Deep In the Village

James & his daughter Irene - January 17, 2017

Hundreds of people had gathered under the shade of mango trees to avoid the scorching African heat.  The heat and the waiting would be worth it.  There was a suppressed expectation resulting from the news that doctors and nurses were coming from America to offer free medical diagnosis and treatment.

Travel time was expected to take longer than an hour and half since the medical team was coming from Jinja.  This is Uganda where time must be celebrated because everything seems to take longer than the liberal calculation.

As I looked out over the sea of anxious African faces, two jumped out at me as my eyes traveled in a circle to assess the greatest needs for medical attention.  My gaze returned to their faces and we made eye contact.

The female appeared to be in her late 20's.  The man beside her appeared to be much older.  He could have easily been in his mid 70's.  But, then, life is hard in the village and it's easy to have no idea about the ages of some.

Vicky - medical team
member & translator

I quietly requested one of our interpreters to communicate with these two solemn people regarding their medical issues.  What Vicky discovered was a story that had me shaking my head in disbelief, though these type of stories are so common they shouldn't be hard to believe.

The lady's name was Irene and the man with her was her father.  She was a single mother of four girls because the father and husband had abandoned her shortly after she gave birth to her twins approximately two years earlier.  The twins were taken by Cesarean, but the "doctor" performing the C-section nicked her bowel in the process, resulting in a fistula, and it had not healed up to now.  Given the unhealed wound and the leakage of waste, she had developed a strong unpleasant odor.  It was for this simple reason that the husband had bailed out of his responsibilities.

I took Irene and her father to see a doctor in order to have him confirm this medical condition.  The father has taken his daughter to several different clinics and paid to have the fistula repaired, but every effort resulted in disappointment.  After confirming the diagnosis, Next Generation Ministries accepted Irene as a patient.  She was transported to Kampala International Hospital for evaluation by a surgeon.  The surgeon told us that he could repair the fistula, but that Irene was in such an anemic condition that she would be at risk in surgery.

His advice was to supervise and monitor Irene with a regulated diet that was high in protein, something that is very uncommon in Uganda.  Susan, the NGM Medical Manager, took Irene to a clinic, where she remained for five days, with instructions for the staff to feed her high protein foods.  After Irene gained some strength, Susan took her to her own home where she gave her a nutritious diet for ten weeks.

Susan taking blood pressure on another patient
the middle of October 2018

When Susan returned to IHK to have Irene reviewed, the surgeon was pleasantly pleased that the fistula indicated signs of  healing on its own.  He recommended Irene continue the high protein diet to see if surgery could be avoided.

Susan had Irene returned to her village and continued to monitor her for the next eight months.  Then a very unfortunate thing happened.  Irene did not own a phone, but Susan stayed connected with her through her father, James, with whom she and her children were staying.  When Susan called James during April 2018, she failed to get anyone to answer the phone.  Unknown to Susan, that phone had been either lost or stolen which made it impossible to stay connected by phone.  Unable to connect with Irene's family, Susan organized a home visit on May 2nd.  When she arrived at Irene's father's house, she discovered that Irene had fallen sick and passed away on April 30, 2018 at the age of 31; two days before her arrival.

Two days later, as Susan shared this tragic news during an NGM staff meeting.  She was so distraught and upset.  She later learned that Irene had begged her father to contact Susan.  She was beside herself that she got caught unaware of the circumstances or she may have been able to intervene.  She shed tears as the collective heart of the staff grieved with her.

James welcomes us to his large family

Just before Christmas of 2018, I was privileged to travel with Susan, Melody (NGM Sponsorship Coordinator), Meddie (the NGM driver), and Bill (the NGM Media Manager) to Irene's village.  Our concern now was for the four children that Irene had left behind.  We left Jinja and drove for one hour to Kamuli.  From there we left the paved road and traveled another half hour on a dirt road before branching off on another dirt road.  Our final turn was onto a footpath.  As Meddie maneuvered the vehicle through the bush, I kept imagining that one of the houses we passed must be one where James and his four granddaughters were living.

The footpath ended when we came into a clearing that contained a small village.  At least I was convinced it was a village.  There were houses and huts and a few cook shacks interspersed with groups of adults and many children everywhere.  Children are always everywhere.

James was the first to recognized that a delegation from Next Generation Ministries had arrived and excitedly welcomed us ... not to a village, but to where he, his wife, and his children lived with his 80 grandchildren and 30 great grandchildren!  James and his wife had given birth to 14 children and Irene was their last born.

L to R: Fatima, Babirye, Sharia, & Kaudah
with a photo of their deceased mother

We navigated our way through the customary greetings and then sat to meet Irene's children.  Fatima is the first born and is 9 years old.  The twins, Babirye and Kaudah, are four years old.  Sharia is between the twins and Fatima and is 6 years old.  The only one who attended school in the previous year was Fatima.  There is no money for school fees for the others.  There grandfather, James, is 75 years old and their grandmother, Robinah, is 65 years old.  James gave his life to Jesus Christ in 1997.  This explains his concern and care, first for his sick daughter, and now his four granddaughters who have no parents.

Next Generation Ministries has a sponsorship program which cares for children who do not have means to attend school.  Often the care extends itself beyond school to include medical and other needs the children have.

This sponsorship effort is not a program in the sense that it is project intended to find as many children who cannot afford school fees and fix them into a program.  Instead, the 37 children cared for in our program are there as a result of relationships we have with people in Uganda.  In the course of our work with the people of Uganda we uncover children who need an education, but with no visible means.  Just like these four children.

Melody with Irene's four daughters

We have asked the Lord to put it on the hearts of some people in America to help us add these four children to the sponsorship program.  The Lord has answered that prayer in providing a one time gift to get the girls started in Fountain of Hope Primary School in early February.  This is a boarding school which will provide regular meals as well as education.  In order to provide ongoing boarding school for these girls, we need partners who will commit to giving any amount on a monthly basis.  Even if the amount is $10 a month it will go a long way toward helping us literally change the lives of these four girls.

Every person matters.  And, the vision of Next Generation Ministries is to change Uganda one person at a time.  Will you consider becoming a partner on our team with your monthly investment?

Early in my relationship with the Lord, I discovered I had a strong aversion to man-made religion.  While the details of various religions vary, the foundation of each is a human effort to connect with the God of their imagination.  Christianity is distinctive because it is God's initiative to connect with man.  When God speaks of pure religion He describes it as caring for the widows and the fatherless.  This divine value is the motivation of NGM in caring for these vulnerable children.

When you join the NGM team, Melody will communicate with you regularly, giving you updates on the status of the girls and reports on how they are performing in school.  Let this be a year where your donation makes a viable presence in Africa as we express the love of Jesus to these precious children and their entire extended family.  Irene is gone, but her legacy lies in these four young girls.

Meddie asking God to provide for Irene's daughters

If you want to begin assisting the girls in their education you can either click on the Designated Funds under the DONATE NOW button in the upper right hand corner of this blog.  Click on the Student Sponsorship category and fill in the fields for a one time donation or monthly donation and the amount you are donating.  In the box for Notes About My Donation, please communicate that your contribution is for Irene's Children.  If you want to chose just one one of the girls or the twins, to sponsor, write their name in the Notes window. You will receive a tax deductible receipt for the amount donated.

If you prefer to mail a check to the NGM Office in Oregon, you simply make your check out to NGM and write Irene's Children or daughter's name on the memo line.  Mail your check to NGM, 29940 South Dhooghe Rd., Colton, OR  97017.

Welcome to Team NGM.  I believe your investment will yield a great return.