Sunday 17 July 2016

Bigger is better...unless it is fish.

 

Benson and Naboth decided they needed bigger shoes. They put on Mike's shoes and shuffled their way back to their own room. They could barely go 3 shuffles before falling over but they were very determined. A team from the Fort Portal children's home came to visit their relatives. It was such a hard climb up the mountain that only one of the team of four made it to the house. He was completely exhausted afterwards. The end result is that they agree that there is no future for the twins in their community. Once Fort Portal has completed their paperwork, they will take the boys for 10 years and attempt to resettle them to their community as they reach their teens. Meanwhile we enjoy the antics of the twins - even if they did get into the milk kitchen cupboard and break the hydrometer for testing the water content of the milk. We need this to ensure the milk is not being watered down too much before reaching us.

We went away for a weekend and I forgot my toothbrush. We were in Kabale so I bought a Ugandan one. What an experience. The head is so long that you can brush half a set of teeth with the minimum of movement. Now that's a way to save time!

 

These tiny dried silver fish smell pretty awful but are high in protein. We have gone into production to grind them into flour and sell bags of fish flour to mothers who have gone through the Nutrition Unit. A sprinkle on food and the protein element is ticked. Fortunately the smell is much better when in powder form though I have seen people munch the whole fish like crisps. The flour is very popular and mothers coming for immunisations are now asking for it too. Another brilliant idea from Henry, our unit community nurse.

Our latest Potter's babies came in 5 days ago. Their 28 year old mum died in hospital following a Caesar. She haemorrhaged so they opened her up again. She was given 6 units of blood but bled to death. Very sad. The twins (Moses on the left and Hope) are slightly premature but are doing well in their incubator.

Elisa, aged 2, has been on the medical ward for several weeks with the most horrendously painful burns. The family had been boiling cassava leaves for several hours when the pan got tipped over him. He arrived with some of the leaves still stuck to his body. You can see he was extensively burned. It has been a challenge getting the right dressings and has meant the nurses boiling Vaseline to sterilise it then applying it to bandages. There is only an area on his stomach left to heal. Understandably, he bursts into tears whenever Mike approaches as removing the bandages is so painful. It is also feared he may have TB but so far the mother won't let him or herself be tested. They both have suspicious coughs and there is a history of TB in the family.

It's a lovely hot afternoon. The Carers and babies have found cool and shade under the wet washing.


 

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