Had a day filled with HOPE

I went back to the village today with some wonderful gifts!  A donor sent a donation for food and some basic supplies.  I got to meet with Josephine today and I was shocked once again by the level of her poverty.  When we arrived she was sweating profusely and had her hoe.  I thought she was just working hard.  I was wrong.  When I hugged her I knew immediately there was a problem.  She was warm to the touch.  She began to tell me that she had been at the hospital the day before and was diagnosed with malaria. She didn't have money to purchase the malaria medication so she was praying that God would heal her.  I immediately arranged for someone to get the prescription filled.  Because she is 9 months pregnant and has contracted malaria, the baby could be born any day.  If you have malaria one may often go into labor while they are ill and not be able to deliver.  In addition, the baby could also have malaria and be too weak to fight it even with proper medication. Here she was working in the pouring rain, her house flooded with water, with a fever, 9 months pregnant and praying for God to do a miracle. 

Talking to her oldest child John (10) who fetches water with his 7 year old brother Francis and 5 year old sister Cornelia

I asked Josephine what she was doing to make money for food and she began piling thorn covered wood on a pile of banana leaves - the pile became so huge

Josephine put the huge pile of wood on our head and began to shake with effort... I begged her to put it down

I cried my eyes out when she told me she walks 6 kilometers to try and sell her firewood to anyone that needs it... if she sells it, she only makes $.30 barely enough to buy 3 potatoes

Putting one of my bracelets on Josephine's little girls arm

On a high note, we purchased meat, sugar, salt, soap and tea leaves for her as well as giving her some baby clothes and blanket.  We also have been able to purchase a large tarp to cover her home so that there won't be as much water pouring through the grass roof onto their family.  Josephina was in shock when we also gave her some money to keep her well fed for the month.  I am so happy that we were able to bless her in this way.  Hopefully the medication will take care of her malaria and will not cause her to go into labor early.

We were also able to meet with several other families and gave them gifts of meat and sugar.  Daniel, the one man with HIV we met last week was so moved that he came out of his home!  He had not walked outside in weeks.  He felt so hopeful that he actually wanted to see the sun again.  It was a powerful moment and we shared in the joy of knowing HOPE brings LIFE. 

Here is Musa, a crippled man after being hit by a car, being taken care of by his mother Zitune along with his mentally disabled and cripped sister - He is living in the dirt, in the dark and has felt so devastated

Zitune was so relieved when we brought her enough money to feed her family for a month - she is worried that when she dies no one will take care of her crippled children

As Ben was doing some media work at the church we are working in, I wandered down the road (as I usually do in the village) to a little house nearby.  There was a young woman just coming back from cultivating.  She told me her story.  Her husband recently died and she has 4 young children.  She is living with her mother and she is doing her best to survive.  She just opened a little "store" outside her house.  I commended her on her business.  I even bought a pumpkin (Ben's favorite)! 

The widow Grace at her "store"

So proud of Grace!

Some additional village photos

I barely slept Thursday night from crying so I am too tired to say much.  Today I met a girl with HIV who lost 2 children and was abandoned by her husband, an elderly woman who was too poor to afford clothes, a grandmother left alone to care for her prostitute daughters 8 children with graves covering her yard, and a 90 year old woman being cared for by her 78 year old brother.  I also had an opportunity to help a woman named Rose.

Grandma Josephine had rags to wear and had her land taken from her when her children died

Praying for Jaja Josephine

Grandma Maria is 90 years old - I asked her what she wanted and she said, "Please, I want some meat"

Here are 8 grand children that were born to 2 prostitutes and abandoned at Grandma Hafina's door step

Hafina's youngest grandson has a crippled leg - Pastor Jehosophat is looking it over

Here is Rose after we gave her a Micro Finance Grant - she was SO happy!

Stubborn enough to try

I am shattered.  I have sat at this computer for 30 minutes but haven't touched the keyboard.  I can't believe what I have seen today and I feel sick.  I can't eat.  I can barely drink.  I have cried today until my eyelids are nearly shut. 

There are no words to describe poverty up close.  The images are etched into my mind and I can't set them aside.  Even sitting here under my mosquito net is enough to bring the tears flowing again.  I have a mattress and a pillow.  My children ate today.  Is there anything else in the world I need?

Josephine is a woman living in a hut that is 10 foot by 10 foot.  She has 5 children and is going to have a baby this month.  Her husband left her earlier this year when the 8 and 10 year olds asked him if he could pay their school fees.  Now Josephine carries firewood (over 80 pounds of weight) on her head with 2 toddlers on her back and front to make a little money to feed them all.  She even digs a little in others gardens to put something in their bellies... but they only eat roots.  She cried when I gave her enough food for beans.  She cried and hugged me. 

Josephine telling me they didn't eat anything today

Josephine's youngest baby sleeps on a potato sack

Josephine pointing out her latrine

Josephine's daughter smiling at me after she ate my crackers

Ben loved Josephine's littlest baby girl

We prayed for Josephine's baby

 

Josephine cried and I told her it would be alright

Sophia's husband has a girl friend on the side and all the money is finding its way to the girl friend and not to Sophia and her 3 children.  She has nothing to eat.  Period.  No beans, no roots, no bananas.  The children barely had energy to walk to me.

I fed Sophia's baby some of the oreo cookies I had in my purse

Sophia's baby cried when the oreo fell on the ground

I told Sophia that if she ever needed anything to contact Pastor Dan and he would get in touch with me

Daniel has HIV... a very advanced case.  His father is taking care of him because his Daniel's wife left him with the 4 children.  Grace, the oldest child of 13 looks worn and fearful.  She is watching her father die and none of them had eaten today at all. 

Here are 2 of Daniel's children and his father showing me into Daniel's house

Daniel can no longer see or walk - he stays in his house all day

An older widow we met had lost her husband, had 3 children in the big city trying to get jobs without success, a son who was hit by a car and has a ruined hip and leg, a daughter who is severely crippled and mentally handicapped and a 15 year old boy who tries to do the work.  This mother was trying desperately to finish making a mat with palm fronds to sell for a little food.  None of them had eaten in 2 days.

Here is the widows daughter - she can't walk so she crawls around the ground

Here is the widow making her mat

Probably the worst thing I experienced today was my next door neighbor Rose crying outside.  I went inside and saw she had nothing to eat and only 2 sauce pans, a small mattress and her child playing on the dirty floor.  This woman had been attacked by her drunk husband and nearly killed with a machete.  I think the child had witnessed this as well.  The little girl is only 4.  Rose lost everything, can't pay her $5 a month rent for the little room, and had no food for 2 days.  The little girl saw I was holding a gum wrapper and pulled it out of my hands.  She licked the paper than pointed to my mouth.  I showed her my gum thinking she was trying to make sense of where the good smell was coming from but then she snatched it and threw it in her mouth and swallowed it down.  This was more than I could take.  I had seen so much already today but to have a little girl hungry enough to eat something out of my mouth is a nightmare. 

I sit in my bed, with my children tucked away safe and their bellies full.  I can't breathe from the pain of knowing these poor women, men and children are suffering on the hard ground with no blankets and no comfort.  The only thing they have tonight is enough money to feed their childrens bellies for a few days.

I can't understand this.  I can't understand the suffering.  I am angry and sick.  I don't think I will sleep tonight.  The only thing I do know is that most of these people qualify for our project.  Soon we will open up sponsorship and someone in the states or England can send a little money each month so these families can sleep soundly at night and not worry where they will get food the next day.  They will not have to worry about the pain of watching their children weakened or die by starvation.  But I don't feel like it can happen fast enough.  God grant me the serenity to accept the things I can not change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference.

I am just one girl and sometimes I feel like I won't make a dent in this suffering.  But if you know me... I am stubborn enough to try.

Speaking at Wakiso

Today I spoke at a small church in Wakiso.  It was a beautiful place.  There was one young woman that stood out to me.  I noticed her as soon as she came in.  Her eyes stayed on the floor as if she was afraid to look at anyone.  She had her baby attached to her back with a cloth and the child never opened her eyes for an entire 2 hour service.  She didn't cry or even nurse as all the other babies did.

After I finished speaking I made a bee-line for her.  The woman's name was Ellen.  Her baby barely opened her eyes when she saw me which is very odd because it would be the first time she saw a white person up close and children always express shock or fear us at first.  But this baby made no recognition of me.  I asked if they had eaten this morning and Ellen said she had... but I knew it wasn't true. 

I made further inquiries to the pastor and it turns out Ellen is married to the town drunk.  She is beaten regularly and has scars on her face to prove it.  She has 2 other toddlers who don't have the strength to walk to church with her because they are too hungry.  She walks 2 miles just to spend time in church away from the reality of home life.

Ellen and her baby are the reason that I am in Africa.  She reminds me that all of my sacrifices are worth while. Women like Ellen need love, a place to feel safe, food and above all hope. We gave her a gift and told her that for now the most important thing was for her and her babies to eat.  We will check on her next week.

Below are some photos of me speaking at the church.  I spoke about God never forgetting us and having our names written on the palm of his hand (Isaiah 49)

Visiting with Ja-ja

I visited with an 87 year old "Ja-Ja" (grandma) yesterday.  She was a sweet woman who lived in a room with nothing but a bed and a bible.  She spent her life taking care of her children and grandchildren.  This Ja-ja was special to me.  When she was younger, she saw a 14 year old boy crying outside of a school with a mattress and paper.  She asked the boy what was wrong and he said he had no place to stay while he attended school and his mother lived far away.  Ja-ja asked him, "Are you a good boy"?  He said, "Yes ma'am".  She took him in with her other children and treated him like he was her own.  Now that boy is an adviser to the President of Uganda.

 I sat down on Ja-ja's floor and she asked a girl to read in Isaiah for me

 Ja-ja held my hand as we listened to the girl reading from the Bible

I listened to the translation and listened to Ja-ja tell me what the scripture meant.  She told me that she was a woman who drank a lot before she knew God.  Now she was glad that she turned to God and became free.  She told me that I had the a "smile like the word of God". 

After we talked I asked her to come outside with me

Ja-ja loved my smile

She couldn't see very well but loved my necklace.  She kept touching it and saying how pretty it was.  I put it on her neck and told her she could have it and always remember me.  She was so happy and told me, "Now I have a white daughter too"!  I am so glad I met her!  She even begged me to let Hope stay with her a while.  I laughed and said, "But Ja-Ja, she needs her mommy too!"

Saying Good-bye to Ja-ja

Christina

I saw her picking through the trash outside the market.  She seemed to be my age with a torn brown shirt and a faded blue jean skirt.  Her head was wrapped in an old rag and she had no shoes on her feet.  The bones on her chest stood out as the skin pulled too tightly against them.  As she reached into the bottom of the can a tall security guard walked by and she jumped back as if the blue can was somehow electric to her touch.  But the guard just continued on as if she was invisible and she resumed her wary stance over the bucket.  Her eyes were like a cat and they darted back and forth between the garbage, her own torn bag and the visitors in the market.  She seemed particularly interested in the plastic and food leftovers. 

I sat in my clean and safe car watching her. I wondered what could possibly drive a woman to that low existence.  I couldn’t help but feel pulled towards her: woman to woman. 

After she had completed her inspection and collection, she turned towards my car without seeing me.  “Hello” I said “How are you”?  This is the normal greeting in Uganda.  Every 2 year old child knows these few words in English.  The woman looked frightened.  Perhaps she thought I was going to cause a problem for her.  I kept a smile on my face so that she wouldn’t feel threatened and added, “What is your name”?  Her eyes stunned me.  She looked up at me and I was frozen with the hollowness of her eyes and cheeks.  She whispered, “Wimineza Christina mam”.  So she has some education then I thought.  Good.  “Christina, that is a beautiful name” I replied. “Christina mam,” she said once again.  Ok… maybe not as much education as most third graders. 

I continued for a few minutes asking her questions in broken sentences.  She seemed very willing to share and even covered her mouth in laughter when I was shocked by the fact that she had 8 children.  Nothing could have prepared me for how much money she made by selling and recycling plastic.  She made $4 a month.  Christina was raising her family on $4 a month and whatever left over food was available.  I am honestly not ok with this.  I can not believe that a woman in the world today has learned to pick and eat garbage along with 8 children to survive.  I am sick to death over the fact that Christina is serving garbage to children and I know she is barely eating anything as evidenced in her emaciated frame.

When I gave her a gift her wide eyes opened in shock.  In one moment I had given her 2 months salary ($8).  She stopped trying to speak English and began to ramble in Lugandan.  I will never know what she said to me but her eyes said it all.  Tonight there are 8 children who will eat a proper meal for the first time in a long time.  Christina, wherever you are… I am praying for you tonight.

Speaking at "God is Able Ministries"

This is me speaking last Sunday about how God is with us especially when we are suffering.  Abdul was translating for me!  Thanks Abdul!

Caution - Graphic Photos Below

Today I experienced fear and exhaustion.  On the 9 hour drive home, we came across a body in the road. A man laid there in the middle of no where (a small town was an hour away).  He was unconscious while people stood and stared.  I was terrified.  I have never experienced this in Africa before.

At first Ben and I believed him to be dead.  We had a translator with us and immediately stopped the vehicle.  The man had been hit by another car before us and they did not stop.  Apparently, after hitting someone here you are supposed to go immediately to the nearest police station because there is a high rate of "mob justice" in Uganda.  We have already seen several terrible accidents in the city but all of them had police nearby.  The car that struck the man never made a report or even sent anyone to help.  It was pure selfishness.  I can't imagine how cold you would have to be to leave a complete stranger unconscious in the street.

Bernon came to with a pool of blood around his head, his leg facing a different direction and pain shooting through his upper body where he was first struck.  Blood was oozing from lacerations on his nose, head and leg.  We had a blanket in the car and we grabbed it to transport him to the hospital.  There are very few ambulances outside of Kampala so we knew we were his best chance to survive.  We piled his broken body into our van.  His pulse was racing but his breathing was fairly regular for someone who had just experienced incredible trauma.

I honestly don't know what I would have done without Mike and Ben.  Michael was extremely calm and kept holding the hand of this man.  He was in and out of consciousness several times before we got his name.  "Bernon" he whispered through his clamped teeth.  The pain was so severe that he often tried to move his leg unconsciously.  Michael was an angel (his name is SO appropriate).  As we held his hand I kept wondering if he would die in our car.  I was trying to think about the possibility of watching someone pass away.  Could I handle it?  Would I turn away or be afraid to watch?  I also knew that there was a distinct possibility that if this main survived he would have to have his leg amputated. There are no specialists to help here and in difficult cases they just take the leg off.  How would he survive then?  How would his family survive?  I was terrified but at one point felt an incredible peace come over me.  I just kept praying over him and speaking to him calmly while holding his hand.  Michael showed him how to breathe deeply when he would open his eyes. 

Bernon never had any blood come out of his mouth during the journey although I did hear him cough some back.  I kept praying, "Dear God, please let this be a good sign".  The car smelled of blood and sweat and our blanket became sticky and red around his head.  I turned the air conditioning on high so I would not smell the flesh. 

We arrived at the "hospital" which was more like a clinic with 1 doctor and over 300 people waiting. We ran in and pulled out the 1 gurney that was in the hospital.  It was old and metal with no cover.  The wheels looked as if they were about to fall off.  We transferred Bernon as carefully as possible onto it and rushed him into the "Casualty Ward".  The doctor looked a little shocked to see us there.  He immediately asked if we had hit him.  "No" the translator said, "They saw him on the road and picked him up".  The doctor raised his eyebrows in surprise.  Apparently this definitely doesn't happen often. 

Bernon was roughly examined and given an injection of pain medicine.  The twisted and bleeding leg seemed to relax some and so did the creases between his brows.  The doctor taped his leg onto a board and turned to ask us a question; "Does the man have no relatives here with him"?  There were no nurses to care for him at all.  In Uganda, a family member must care for you and feed you until you leave.  That could be weeks in this case.  Ben decided to stay at the hospital with Michael and I went to the village to try to retrieve someone from Bernon's family.  He told us that he had a pregnant wife and 3 children.  He couldn't find a job and so he has been going from town to town trying to "dig" for food.  Basically, this man is a slave.  He tries to work all day to bring home 4 potatoes for his family to eat for the day.  It dawned on me that his family would now be hungry as well.  Ben told me not to worry.  He put his own shirt under Bernon's head so that the large cut would not bleed all over the metal gurney while they were taking him to x-ray. 

Hope and I left with the translator for the village desperately searching for his family.  We sent ahead a messenger on a motorcycle telling the family what had happened.  The poor woman must have been terrified.  We never found her.  She was walking from neighbor to neighbor asking for a few shillings so that she could go to her husband.  We did however find Bernon's mother in law and brother in law who also had to bring a bag of food to prepare for him for the week.

We arrived back to the hospital 1 hour later and found Bernon with a much better disposition.  Michael and Ben had to watch as Bernon was lanced and covered with bandages.  They were caring diligently for him amidst other emergencies and amputations within 2 feet of them.  It is a good thing I wasn't there!  When I saw the xray, I was so relieved.  I consulted with the doctor (as if I could convince him) that it was the smaller bone (the fibula) that had fractured and not as close to the joint as we had expected.  Surely a cast would be best in this situation and not an amputation?  He smiled at me and said, "Ahhh madam!  That is surely what I was thinking as well!"  I went to Bernon and explained that he would walk again and not to worry. Bernon smiled at me and said, "Thank you Lady of Mercy". 

Bernon will be ok.  He doesn't appear to have any internal injuries and he certainly has a strong spirit. We have given him some money that he will use for medicine and his wife's needs as well. I am so glad that God had us in that place at that time.  If you want to give any support to Bernon or his wife, please email me at melody@pahlow.com.  Any help would be greatly appreciated!


 

Wonders that I have NEVER seen!

Sunday I experienced wonderful things... the beauty of healing, the joy of laughter, the pleasure of friends and the love of a stranger.  A friend of mine from the states was preaching in Kabale Uganda.  We have known Dana Morey for years and he is the founder of a non-profit called A Light to the Nations.  You can find out more about the ministry at www.alighttothenations.com.  He is one of the kindest people I know.  His wife Karman is so sweet and absolutely gifted in counseling too.

After preaching a message, he prayed for people to find healing and one woman opened her eyes after years of not seeing.  Her sister-in-law was so excited that she danced in front of a huge crowd.  It was truly something I never thought I would live to see. There were so many people that experienced healing.  I saw several women who couldn't walk when they came in and upon leaving discarded their walking sticks. Hope was given one of them as a reminder of what God can still do.  Amazing.  I have been skeptical in the past of these situations but honestly I can see that God showed these people that He cared for them in a special way. 

I hugged so many children and prayed for many of them.  Prayer is a powerful thing. I also laughed as children giggled at the way American's try to pronounce the names of people here!  It is so difficult... they are all M's and N's. I watched as my daughter received a beautiful gift from a stranger and it made her smile. If you knew how lonely Hope has been, you would know what a miracle it was for her to receive that! We also ate with our friends before they returned to the states last night.  It was a day filled with wonder.  I am so glad we went to Kabale!

Our First Update in Uganda!

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Ahhhh--at-home-in-Uganda-.html?soid=1104275316890&aid=nVtXHXTzfpA