Making a Documentary

Wow what a week!!!

While Isaac worked away at the hospital I took a trip to Iganga. I went with a woman from church and her film crew. Yes you read that right. Isaac and I, well really it’s the lady from church who is doing it but I got to help in the process.

Tuesday we left Kampala and drove the 5 hours to Isaac’s village. We walked deep into the village to gather interviews and information on how the local people in the area around where we want to put the hospital get health care. You can tell from my dirty feet! The stories were unreal. I can’t imagine being in labor and after walking to a clinic having to get on the back of a bicycle and balance myself to the next clinic over because the first one can’t serve me. These women gave story after story of traumatic situations they find themselves in.

Wednesday we went to the local hospital (26km from where our hospital is proposed to be). We interviewed the administration and doctors. They continued to tell us that they were just a local hospital and so they weren’t prepared for critical medical cases. My goodness if that’s their attitude! This is the best the people can get and the administration thinks that their job is to handle minor cases. Wow. We talked to many patients within the hospital and were shocked at how far they had traveled to receive services.

Thursday we went back to the village, only after visiting the district office and getting an interview about the land and how the process of our hospital project is going. It was funny that the man we talked to almost begged for an interview and then really wanted to watch his interview on the camera. J Once in village we visited the local clinics. The director of the documentary was shocked that these clinics, even though they are free or have minimal cost are empty. Upon simple investigation she found out why; lack of supplies, lack of medical personnel to care for patients, and lack of hygiene. We were also able to get the local chairman’s interview while standing on the donated land. It was great to hear him talk about how excited the local people are about the project.

It was an exhausting time but well worth it. We hope to have a documentary to show all of you very soon!!!

Blessings

Technical Update on the Hope and Healing Center

Thought I'd send an update to you on how the process of Hope and Healing Center (the hospital) and Something Deeper Ministries (the charity)! There are 2 things that must happen before ground breaking can happen.

Briefly:

1. The Charity that will oversee this project must be registered here in Uganda. That is Something Deeper Ministries.

2. The land for the hospital must be officially donated by the district to Something Deeper Ministries.

Iganga District Offices, signed paperwork for NGO at district level

In Detail:

1. Something Deeper Ministries has the signatures it needs from Iganga District (the area the hospital will be built in). Now we need to talk to our lawyer to finalize the paperwork for the national NGO board (non-governmental organization, aka charities). I hear they meet as a board every Thursday. So we are hoping that all the documentation can be given to them this month so that by May we might be approved).

2. The Land donation. It is very important to have buy-in from the community for this hospital. We want them to feel a sense of ownership over this so that they will care for it and be our cheerleaders instead of stumbling blocks. So the locals have donated the land. The paperwork has made it to the sub-county (the meeting we had a few months back). Now we are waiting for that paperwork to be passed to the district. Once the district has the paperwork they can then make a decision on whether we get the land or not (I hear that they just go with what the sub-county says, so it should be a simple thing).

In Conclusion:

So once Something Deeper Ministries is registered in Uganda and the land is officially donated then we will start to build :) We are so excited to get this underway!!!

Houses of Kiwanyi

It's amazing to me to see how different people build their houses. Please enjoy these houses of Kiwanyi.

They are made of brick and then plastered with something.

Some bricks are just sun dried and others are fired bricks.

Some houses have mud thrown on them for plaster and others use cement.

Depending on the level of wealth there might even be paint on the house.

This house was made by a woman's children. They all work in the capital city and wanted to bless their mother with a beautiful home.
I think they accomplished it.

Visiting Village

It's always an experience getting to village!
This dusty road is used for many purposes.

This is one of three "taxis" that make up the public transportation system to Isaac's village.
Three runs to town in the morning and three in the evening coming home. If you miss, it you miss it. So they pack it quite tight to get everyone where they want to go.

 Isaac always seems to have to be the doctor when we visit. We were driving by and this man stopped us for a medical consultation. He had been to the doctor but wanted to get Isaac's opinion on the treatment and care. Isaac loves educating people on their own health. He knows that once a person knows why then they can help keep themselves healthy. This always takes time, but 30 minutes spent with a person concerning their health is worth it to this doctor.

This woman is a great "auntie" figure in Isaac's life.  She blessed us with 3 chicken eggs as a thank you for visiting.

She was also very happy to see me pregnant :) 

Ice Cream Man

This is the ice cream "truck"
He's taking a break.

The cones are in the bag and the "ice cream" is in the cooler. Notice his bullhorn playing a fun song to inform children of his presence.

Gardening

Look what we found in our garden on Saturday :)

It's huge!!! (the local ones are 1/4 this size)