Family- an investment in the future

It is great to have family around. Yesterday we hosted Denis and Vanessa. 

We love having the opportunity to invest in the future. These children will one day run Uganda...and we get to be part of shaping into the people they will become.

They like coming to Uncle Isaac's and Aunt Rachel's house :)

When I grow up I want to be a Doctor

We meet many children here that have no idea what they want to be when they grow up.
This girl on the other hand knows very well. When I asked her she clearly said, "I want to be a doctor". I told her that when Isaac got home that he would let her "play" with his doctor "toys".

We talked about blood pressure, they always her Grandma talking about it...it was time to measure theirs.

Oh the Laundry

It's bad when you have laundry from the second week in June and now it is the beginning on Sept.

My clothes pin holder :)

  When we left for the states we only did the laundry we had to do because of the time it takes to hand wash and line dry. So Saturday we did the laundry...all of it. It was probably 3 loads worth (if we had a machine) It took my experienced washer (Isaac) over 8 hours to wash all the laundry. By the time I hung that on the line he had another bucket full to hang up.
Being that it is rainy season it is now Tuesday and the clothing still isn't dry!!! I put the clothes on the line and then an hour later would have to bring them in. Then the rain would stop and back to the line those clothes went. I've been going back and forth for the last 4 days!!! Yikes, this is work.
Our new game plan...don't let the laundry pile up. :) We all know how well that plan works.

Friends!

You know those type of friends who you just want to be around? These would be them. This is Peter and Mino and three of their four children.

Sunday we were spending a long time chatting after church. I finally said, why don't you just come over. We are so glad they did. 

I think Peter really enjoyed my chair too :) He wouldn't let anyone else sit in it.

Home Again

Back in Kitemu, Isaac and I are happy to be home in Uganda. Isaac has started his residency in surgery. He is enjoying his classes but says it's like being back in first year of medical school, becoming a student all over again. I am getting the house in working order again before I spread my wings and start volunteering.


It's been great to see friends and family again. There are so many people whom we dearly missed while in the states. Some of which we haven't see yet! Isaac and I are excited for what God has for us in this next season of life as we continue to follow down the path as He calls us to "go farther" and "come closer".

Visitors and the Entebbe Zoo

Back in Uganda we hit the ground running, hosting visitors only 2 days after we arrived.

When hosting visitors you never know what may happen. It is amazing to see people so excited to step off the plane for the first time, either they are scared to death or eager for an adventure. Our most recent guest were just that, ready for an adventure. Not that they didn't have their own reservations, as one should, but they were ready to embrace Uganda.

Without a vehicle of our own our visitors were up for the challenge of balancing on the back of a motorcycle while it bumped and weaved back and forth around the rain carved roads.

Every good trip to Uganda must include a trip to the zoo. We have taken many visitors there before (I love going to the zoo) but today was a special surprise. 












The zoo is actually an wildlife education and rehabilitation site. This means that orphaned or injured animals are cared for.

Charles here is 3 years and 2 months old. His mother was killed by poachers and his umbilical cord was still attached when he was rescued.
Today was the first time Isaac and I got to see him...he was just wondering around for us to visit with him :)

In Sad Times Like These

Dear Blog readers.

Thank you so much for all your cards, packages, emails, facebook messages and love and support these last few months.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted and when I have it has been about trivial things. Please forgive me. I often think, I should post. But posting means writing something and writing something means siting down and thinking and thinking tends to make me cry. For the first few months after Elijah passed all I wanted to do was cry. Isaac and I learned that if we kept it in and waited to cry then it would come in a mighty wave instead of a flowing faucet. So we cried whenever we felt we needed to. I remember the day when we hadn’t cried in two days. I remember thinking that coping was getting easier. Now just two days short of five months since he was born I’m still sad. Elijah was such a part of our lives, an active boy from just 12 weeks along that he was a regular part of our conversations. He would interrupt us with a kick or a wiggle. It’s not that we think of him less now but now he’s not actively involved in our lives. He has changed our lives, and continues to as we move through this phase of “getting used to what we didn’t expect”.

Life tends to happen that way, sending us something that we didn’t ask for and something we feel we are unprepared for. I guess that’s God’s way of showing us how strong, not only he is but how strong we can be with him.

The first year I lived in Africa I felt that God was teaching me that I could do big things. Now I’m realizing that I, (with the help of the Holy Spirit, Isaac and many others) can manage through big things. Not only can I start and accomplish big things but I can take those big things that come, uninvited or not.

I remember my parents having to say good bye to me at university and having to “let me go”. I feel that every parent has at some point in a child’s life to “let them go”. For Isaac and I our “letting go” was earlier than we expected. We never thought that the day before he was born we would have to let him go.

Someone told me that a large percentage (I don’t remember) of couples lose child end up losing their marriage as well. For Isaac and me, we don’t understand the statistic. We have been each other’s strong towers, a place of refuge, a shoulder to cry on, and a person to point each other in the right direction when we get too discouraged to pray. This experience is one we are taking together, no blame, no shame, just love for one another and united love for our boy, our first child Elijah Mubezi.

I guess I have a hard time blogging because it is a place that I can put down my thought and right now my thoughts are with my son.

Thank you for continuing to think of us, read our story, pray for us, and support us. We still need cheerleaders to encourage us during this season of our lives.

Blessings,

Rachel

Surgeon in the Making

Isaac received approval letter for his Residency in Surgery!!! (the 3 year program)

For a long time I’ve been praying for a place to open up for residency. We see that this is an opportunity

My love for surgery and the need for people to have surgery in village has lead me to the need for more training in the area of surgery. The greatest challenge working in village is that when people need emergency surgery, I am either left with a choice of fixing them or referring them to hospitals far way for them to make it. Such cases need a competent surgeon to adequately care for their needs and save their life. 

I'm so happy to have the privileged of learning more in this field so I can confidently perform these risky surgeries to serve the people of Eastern Uganda.

Malaria & Diarrhea

Malaria and diarrhea are killers in many parts of the world. Isaac and I experienced them at the same time. Isaac, knowing how it feels to get malaria quickly went to a Lab and they confirm he had malaria. He purchased the medicine and began treatment right away. After only 2 days he was feeling better. I was seen by my doctor (Isaac) at the first signs of diarrhea and he put me on medicine, a changed diet, and mandatory rest. Our pastor happened to be around and prayed for me and gave me a ginger, lemon, charcoal drink to help.

It’s amazing to me how these diseases that many die from on daily bases have no power against early diagnosis and treatment. It is something that pushes us to set up a hospital in the community where people need it most. 

Medical Outreach

Isaac and I have wanted to put together a medical outreach to the village of Kiwanyi but we couldn't think about how to accomplish such a big task. We knew we needed extra hands to help in the process of seeing so many people. We were so happy when Sara said she was coming. Sara just finished her first year of medical school and was willing to jump in with both feet. Ramses is a man from Chad. He got his degree of nursing at the same school as Isaac. 

With Sara and Ramses on the team we felt we could adequately serve the people of Kiwanyi. What we didn't know is that we would serve the people from surrounding villages as well. People came from far and wide to see the doctor for free. One woman carried her child over 20km (12miles) to see the doctor.

We made up 80 red number tickets to help control the line. We passed out 217 tickets the first day! We were told that the clinic normally serves 100 patients in a month and we only did 2 days.

I took people's blood pressure and pulse with a machine I had along with weight and temperature. Ramses then took respiratory rate, and retook blood pressure and pulse if there was a concern. The patient then received a green number card to wait and see the doctor. At the end of the two days Isaac had seen 172 patients!

Many patients were finding out about their health concerns for the first time. These patients had a variety of ailments but the most dominate group were ones with hypertension, diabetes, and peptic ulcers. We also saw patients with eye cataracts, sickle cell anemia, hernias, Down Syndrome, benign prostate hypertrophy, malnourished children and women, a woman with a breast lump, and many surgical cases. Most people complained of skeletal and muscular pain. This is because of their age and the difficult work they do as subsistence farmers growing their own crops to eat.

We found that many of these issues could be elevated or be treated before they become a serious medical concerns if proper healthcare, early diagnosis and education were available within the community.

It was great to be able to find out more information about how building a hospital will help this community.

Friends!

We received a message from an SPU friend, Sara, a few months back asking about the possibility of her coming to see us. We planned for her to come in June during her school vacation. She told us that her main goal in coming was to just be with us. Isaac and I were excited about having her come and help with the new baby as well. When Elijah died Sara sent us such a sweet message asking us if it would be ok if she still came. I remember her writing that she just wanted to sit on the couch and cry with us if that is what we needed to do. It was such a comfort knowing that she wasn’t expecting much from us and we could just be ourselves.

It’s amazing how God knows just what we need. Sara was there to help us with prepping our house for leaving to the US, she was there to help us laugh at our funny neighbor, and helped us chase the mouse out of our kitchen. She was there to watch a movie with, cook meals, take walks, laugh about funny cultural differences, and put on mud masks. It was such a joy having another person in our seemingly quiet house.

 

Big Party

After riding back on the 16 hour bus ride from Burundi we threw ourselves into a week long volunteering fest. Our church, Watoto, was celebrating 30 years of ministry and 20 years of childcare ministries where thousands of people came to celebrate with.

For each of the 8 days there were different events going on.

Isaac was a section leader of the medical volunteers. 

Rachel was placed on the hospitality team. Israel Houghton & New Breed came to give a concert and Rachel helped set up the green room and dressing room for them. She didn’t get to see the concert but she heard it from the dressing room. At the end of the concert Rachel was part of the crew who set off hundreds of Chinese lanterns. What an experience to have something fly right out of your hands.

Hernias & Cow Gut

I feel so behind on my posts when I look at photos that haven't been shared. Please forgive me!

What Isaac sees and what I see are very different things. Isaac is looking at this cow intestine as something to learn a new technique to repairing someone. All I see is a gross pile of pink that is making my nose uncomfortable!



Hernias are very common in Uganda but even more in Isaac's tribe. The local hospital put together a training for the surgeons. Isaac was able to attend and learned lots of new techniques. 

 

While Isaac was busy learning I stared out the window and spotted this kind man. I had to check out his ride.
He was the nicest man. He was deformed by polio but that doesn't keep him down. He was born in a Muslim family but was cared for by Christians and now goes around the hospital giving people hope by sharing his story. He says that he tells people to keep going even though the situation looks bad. He hasn't stopped yet.

After playing with the cow intestines Isaac observed a new way of repairing a hernia. Most of the patients were prisoners from the local prison.

Friends & the Uganda Zoo

Working in East Africa as missionaries it is hard for us to justify taking a vacation or spoiling ourselves so it was great having fellow missionaries around.










It's great having visitors who live in Africa too. During their spring vacation a few teachers I worked with in Burundi came to our house for vacation. We didn't waste time, first day we went to the zoo.

We spent a good 45 min just watching the chimps. They are on an island. The care takers told us that they fear the water. While we were there they fed them by throwing the fruit and veggies at the island from the opposite bank. Some of the food fell into the water and the chimps would use sticks to "fish" for the floating food.

Liz found a friend in a deer. The deer allowed Liz to scratch behind it's ears for a long time. Olive gathered the courage to touch the deer as well.

This zoo is very different from what I expected. It is an educational center and so their goal isn't tourism. Their exhibits were large and there was plenty of land for the animals to run and live.

We did do some ministry while Liz was here. We took her to village to see the people that the hospital will serve. It was amazing going into village with someone else, someone who was newer than I was.

Isaac went to talk to the elders of the community about the hospital project and the need for official documentation concerning the donated land. Liz and I spent time with the children and women of the village. The women hidden by the child in the front of the photo is the mother of the boy I'm holding. His name is Yakut, he has Down Syndrome. Isaac and I have done some counseling on heath care and general care of Yakut to keep him a fun loving part of the community. The mother has done a great job with him even though she doesn't have resources.