Gifumbia & St. Francis "Campgrounds"

St. Francis "Campgrounds"

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Outreach to Gifumbia

Dear Friends
Once a month we travel to an area called “Gifumbia” to give immunizations to the children and mothers, as well as examine the pregnant woman.. It takes forever, probably 1 and ½ hours, but it seems like 10 hrs as the road is difficult, with bumps and deep pot holes as the norm, not the exception.
I pack a lunch but the others stop on the way for local food, which looks like some kind of meat inside an enclosed sandwich which appears to have been deep fried.
Since one of the two travel vehicles is out of commission, we travel in the ambulance which I have never once seen used as an actual ambulance. There is no such thing as an Emergency Room, pts go to the area of the hospital that most suits their symptoms; all accidents go to the Theatre( Operating Room) and if pain is severe enough that a patient can not wait in the OPD (Outpatient Dept) to see a Clinician (Nurse Practitioner), then they go to the Surgical Ward. All women who have come to deliver their babies automatically go to the Maternity Ward, some come days early waiting, sleeping, eating outside until it is “time”. Everyone must have a caregiver with them to cook for them ( there is a Cook House separate from the hospital, as no food is prepared in the hospital), and care for all their needs. The nurses simply dispense medications and the midwives (which most nurses are) deliver the babies. The woman then stay overnight, coming by the Public Health Dept. the next day for their babies’ initial immunizations (BCG which is protection against TB) and their first of four Polio oral drops. The mother is given an oral 100,000 Unit Vitamin A tab., which most swallow without any water. Then they pay their bill and carrying their newborn walk home, often many miles.
This system of medical care certainly has it’s drawbacks but there are advantages as well. Each day as I pass by the Maternity Ward on one side of the road and a field of Caregivers on the other, I greet each and every man (few though they are ) , woman and child. with “Waraye” (for one person) or Mwaraye (for more than one) . Each person greets me with “Yego” (which literally means Yes, but in essence means “Good morning, back at ya.”. Then many say “Umeze ute?” which means “How are you? And they all wait for my response which varies from “Meze Neza”= very good to “Ndaho” which translates to ”fair or OK”. Both responses invariably result in gales of laughter or repetition of my response from one person to the other.. I still don’t know why I cause such a response, but as long as people are laughing and not crying, that is good enough for me.
OK, back to the Outreach to Gifumba: When we arrive there is no one there (we go to the school house and set up) but within minutes the word has spread and woman and babies arrive in droves. First the babies are weighed (looks like a meat hanger), then they come inside, give us their child’s immunization cards (* the ones I want to gift them with- gallon size baggies to protect them) , we determine what is needed, give them the required medicine and then no body leaves. It becomes a community social event as all the mothers visit with each other, admire each others children and basically hang out for several hours. Then the pregnant women who have been seen by the midwife come to us for their series of Tetanus Injections.
Unlike America where a tetanus injections is given prophylactic ally every ten years or when we step on a rusty nail etc., a series of 5 tetanus injections are given to pregnant women or women of child bearing age, over a couple of years. Fortunately this series is a one time thing, not with every pregnancy, or they would be getting one each month most of their lives, as the average # of children is nine per woman.
Also all accident victims, simple abrasions or serious wounds come to the Public Health Dept. for a tetanus shot, even if they just had one the week before. It might seem like overkill to us, but it is a serious problem here and all you need to see is one baby who received tetanus from an un-inoculated mother and you quickly understand. The child seems normal until day three when their body becomes ridged (like a constant seizure) and death soon follows.
I have digressed a bit here and will some more as my mind recalls the newspaper headlines where several top government officials are on trial for stealing millions of dollars that were allocated for Uganda’s Immunization Program. Perhaps their punishment should be to see the results of this misuse of funds when their child or grandchild was unable to access these drugs.
Ok, back to Gifumba ! These woman walk miles (in this case Kilometers) and are very appreciative of our services. Even though it is very far from St. Francis Hospital, most come to the hospital to deliver and the ones who choose to stay home , bring their newborns (sometimes hours old), for our once a month visits
I’ve included some photos of our most recent visit to Gifumbia, as well the woman and children that “camp out” here at the hospital while a loved one is hospitalized.
I am very tired as I write this, so I apologize that it is not as well written as in the past blogs, but this Statistical Research is wearing me out-smile. My hope is that once we can set up a procedure for obtaining this needed information on HIV-AIDS and the Antiretroviral Therapy, it will be a piece of cake each month and I will be able to spend my time holding babies and tending to the sick. Please God, let that be your plan, as well.

* Anyone who would like may send me quart or gallon size baggies for the children’s immunization cards, as well as the mothers medical records, as they carry them with them, through rain and shine. Only the HIV+ pts who are on ARV have medical records which remain in the hospital. For those cards, I am also looking for plastic baggies, as well, but they need to be large (either 17” by 12” or 17” by 9” ) At this point there is not even a file or a box to keep them in.
Friends have told me that you can send a cardboard envelope From the post office marked ”Global Priority Mail” and stuff it with as much as you can get into it for $11.00. And it arrives in a couple of weeks!
If you filled one of those baggies with dark choc. M&M’s or Pink Canada Mints, all the better(smile).