Saturday, July 10, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Funeral
The guests were supposed to arrive between 9 and 10am. Naturally, we got there around 10:30 and were some of the first people there. The service was supposed to last from 10:30-12:30. Naturally, it went from 11:45-5pm.
There were probably 700 people there, the local technical school had all the construction students put up bamboo and tarp structures for people to sit under. A couple schools and NGOs brought in hundreds of chairs but still there were a lot of people sitting on the ground. Even the local government officials came for the event.
I'm used to funerals in the States where even the closest family tries to stay composed. But here you're allowed to freely express your grief. Guests would wail when they came, the students from her school would yell, her sister almost passed out saying goodbye as she lifted her hands and screamed.
The tradition is to have the body spend one night in the home and then be buried the next day, so they brought the coffin out of the house while everybody was singing etc. Being a Christian community, they sang a lot of worship songs filled with "ayayayyayaya"s from the women. Since English is the overlying language since there are so many tribes in Uganda, most of the service was translated from Acholi to English for us.
Then it was time for the burial. All 700 of us walked about 10 minutes to a plot of land owned by the family. We looked like a mass exodus, filling the paths, moving like water around houses and such. People came to watch, children came to watch. And, I think I've mentioned a couple times how kids yell "Munu!" when I pass (meaning white person). Well, in this completely inappropriate time they did it too. (Obviously they had no idea that it wasn't the time).
So we got to the open grave, sang, and lowed the casket down with rope.
Matthew stayed pretty composed the whole time although you could tell that he had been crying previously. He spoke and told the whole story of her sickness and death. I'll summarize she's always had nosebleeds but they got worse a couple months ago. She was in and out of the hospital. When she was at home, she would cuddle up on his lap. This last time she was sick it was because she had lost so much blood with nosebleeds that her body couldn't keep up and her heart wasn't getting enough flow.
They had to transfuse her but there is no blood bank here. Her platelet count had become too low. They tested her relatives and found a donor. Then, the machine that was monitoring her heart and blood broke on a Friday. They told Matthew it would be fixed on Monday but that there were no other machines in the hospital.
Over the weekend Matthew was trying to find an ambulance to take her to Kampala but the hospital said one of their vehicles was broken and the other had too many flat tires. All the other organizations in town had long processes to be able to use their ambulance. So finally FH got an ambulance from Kampala to come and pick her up.
As they neared Kampala her condition was deteriorating. They said they had to give another injection and she looked at her dad and said "no more injections." When they got to the hospital she was in horrible shape, I'm not sure if they had started CPR yet but they knew her heart was failing. Matthew said that she got the best attention possible, all of the doctors were ready to receive her and all tried to rescue her but it was too late.
I keep thinking how easily we could have helped her in the States. You can cauterize the veins in the nose to stop the bleeding, you can give her a saline drip to stay hydrated, you can even get plasma from the blood bank to help with clotting. Unfortunately that just isn't here. But then I think, if it was God's will for her to go then he may have taken her no matter what medicine she received.
It's just hard to think that she didn't receive the best possible treatment out there.
There were probably 700 people there, the local technical school had all the construction students put up bamboo and tarp structures for people to sit under. A couple schools and NGOs brought in hundreds of chairs but still there were a lot of people sitting on the ground. Even the local government officials came for the event.
I'm used to funerals in the States where even the closest family tries to stay composed. But here you're allowed to freely express your grief. Guests would wail when they came, the students from her school would yell, her sister almost passed out saying goodbye as she lifted her hands and screamed.
The tradition is to have the body spend one night in the home and then be buried the next day, so they brought the coffin out of the house while everybody was singing etc. Being a Christian community, they sang a lot of worship songs filled with "ayayayyayaya"s from the women. Since English is the overlying language since there are so many tribes in Uganda, most of the service was translated from Acholi to English for us.
Then it was time for the burial. All 700 of us walked about 10 minutes to a plot of land owned by the family. We looked like a mass exodus, filling the paths, moving like water around houses and such. People came to watch, children came to watch. And, I think I've mentioned a couple times how kids yell "Munu!" when I pass (meaning white person). Well, in this completely inappropriate time they did it too. (Obviously they had no idea that it wasn't the time).
So we got to the open grave, sang, and lowed the casket down with rope.
Matthew stayed pretty composed the whole time although you could tell that he had been crying previously. He spoke and told the whole story of her sickness and death. I'll summarize she's always had nosebleeds but they got worse a couple months ago. She was in and out of the hospital. When she was at home, she would cuddle up on his lap. This last time she was sick it was because she had lost so much blood with nosebleeds that her body couldn't keep up and her heart wasn't getting enough flow.
They had to transfuse her but there is no blood bank here. Her platelet count had become too low. They tested her relatives and found a donor. Then, the machine that was monitoring her heart and blood broke on a Friday. They told Matthew it would be fixed on Monday but that there were no other machines in the hospital.
Over the weekend Matthew was trying to find an ambulance to take her to Kampala but the hospital said one of their vehicles was broken and the other had too many flat tires. All the other organizations in town had long processes to be able to use their ambulance. So finally FH got an ambulance from Kampala to come and pick her up.
As they neared Kampala her condition was deteriorating. They said they had to give another injection and she looked at her dad and said "no more injections." When they got to the hospital she was in horrible shape, I'm not sure if they had started CPR yet but they knew her heart was failing. Matthew said that she got the best attention possible, all of the doctors were ready to receive her and all tried to rescue her but it was too late.
I keep thinking how easily we could have helped her in the States. You can cauterize the veins in the nose to stop the bleeding, you can give her a saline drip to stay hydrated, you can even get plasma from the blood bank to help with clotting. Unfortunately that just isn't here. But then I think, if it was God's will for her to go then he may have taken her no matter what medicine she received.
It's just hard to think that she didn't receive the best possible treatment out there.
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Death in the FH family
The first day I was here we prayed for the 15 year old daughter of one of our staff. They prayer was that she would be able to return to school soon after dealing with a long illness. She was having really serious nosebleeds that kept happening.
Throughout the next few weeks we've been praying for her almost every day. Matthew (the staff member) would update us that she's back home, she's back in the hospital, then she was in a coma, she was awake again. The blood loss was seriously affecting her heart. A lot of us kept talking to him about taking her to a hospital in Kampala, Kitgum just doesn't have enough doctors for advanced medicine but the drive is long and rough.
Yesterday morning he was finally convinced and Food for the Hungry helped by paying for ambulance transport for her and her parents. Sometime between the time they reached the hospital and this morning she passed away.
A bunch of us went to his house today with the plan to cook and clean. We filled 10 jerrycans with water, put them in the back of the truck that needs to be pushed to start and headed to Matthew's home.
As with tradition, there were already at least 50 people there. Men from the local carpentry school were constructing a huge tarp covering, the local high school brought plastic chairs and the women from the community were all cooking and washing. We went to town and bought them more food because they didn't have anywhere near enough for everybody.
Matthew has been with FH Kitgum since the start, he had been abducted and found God while in the bush and has an amazing story about how he escaped. My cook, Concy, lived with his family for a few years, he got her the job here. He's such a loving man who takes great care of his family and friends.
Tomorrow's the funeral, just pray for the family - the parents, siblings, everyone. They know that she has peace now but it's hard for the people that are left behind.
Throughout the next few weeks we've been praying for her almost every day. Matthew (the staff member) would update us that she's back home, she's back in the hospital, then she was in a coma, she was awake again. The blood loss was seriously affecting her heart. A lot of us kept talking to him about taking her to a hospital in Kampala, Kitgum just doesn't have enough doctors for advanced medicine but the drive is long and rough.
Yesterday morning he was finally convinced and Food for the Hungry helped by paying for ambulance transport for her and her parents. Sometime between the time they reached the hospital and this morning she passed away.
A bunch of us went to his house today with the plan to cook and clean. We filled 10 jerrycans with water, put them in the back of the truck that needs to be pushed to start and headed to Matthew's home.
As with tradition, there were already at least 50 people there. Men from the local carpentry school were constructing a huge tarp covering, the local high school brought plastic chairs and the women from the community were all cooking and washing. We went to town and bought them more food because they didn't have anywhere near enough for everybody.
Matthew has been with FH Kitgum since the start, he had been abducted and found God while in the bush and has an amazing story about how he escaped. My cook, Concy, lived with his family for a few years, he got her the job here. He's such a loving man who takes great care of his family and friends.
Tomorrow's the funeral, just pray for the family - the parents, siblings, everyone. They know that she has peace now but it's hard for the people that are left behind.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Poverty is the worst form of violence. - Mahatma Gandhi
I've been thinking about this a lot and was hoping to expound on it. But I've decided not to. So here's all I'll say:
If in order for the world to have the "haves" (us), does it also need to have the "have-nots?" And, if this is true, does having, in turn, actually make us violent?
.
I've been thinking about this a lot and was hoping to expound on it. But I've decided not to. So here's all I'll say:
If in order for the world to have the "haves" (us), does it also need to have the "have-nots?" And, if this is true, does having, in turn, actually make us violent?
.
Wise man.
Poverty is the worst form of violence. - Mahatma Gandhi
Will elaborate my thoughts another time.
Will elaborate my thoughts another time.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
4th of July
I probably wrote about this last year around Halloween but I'm saying it again. When you experience a holiday in another country you realize that it really is just another day. There is no red, white and blue, no parties, no days off of work, nothing. Even the new Americans here haven't said anything about it, I would have forgotten completely if it wasn't for the internet.
On the topic of my homeland, I'm beginning to realize that my cynicism about America is just not helpful for me or anybody else. Yes, many parts of the work hate us, and no, I don't completely blame them in some/many cases. But where I am is just out of a crisis and the US has put in effort to help out. I think I need to take a picture of the "Hospital funded by USAID - help from the people of the United States" so whenever I want to strangle our government I will relax a bit because that hospital has saved the lives of many of my friends.
I also appreciate the equality among people that we have in America. The fact that kids are taught growing up that they are worth something (even if that makes them overly proud in many cases). Many girls from the villages, especially ones who returned from the war, think they are worthless in comparison to people in the town or people with any kind of power. The respect that they give them is fine, I won't argue about courtesying or anything, but it's after the initial respect, the fact that they remain on their knees, head bowed, that they talk quietly or not at all to educated people, that they won't ask for what they need and they won't trouble anyone higher than them for anything that gets to my heart.
If I meet a doctor, a university student or a teacher I will give them a firm handshake and look them straight in the eye. I know that despite their certificates, education, whatever, that I am on their same level. But it's very structured here to where one stands.
Other things about America that I am thankful for today:
- Roads. I appreciate the fact that I pay taxes and that the government uses that money to build me roads that I won't ever appreciate.
- Checks and balances. I want to thank whoever crafted this idea, there is so much corruption among the central government that the people really suffer. While we have corruption and scandals, I'm thankful that we generally punish those involved.
- Smoothies. I could really go for one right now. Or a grande light java chip frappachino, no whip. I've been having fantasies about them.
- Minimum wage and strict child labor laws.
- Vaccinations.
- Police. Being able to call them and not having to pay their bribes to come and help you.
- Recycling. My soul throws up a little everyday when I have to throw 4 plastic bottles into the fire pit. Sorry Ozone.
- Unlimited calls. This buying airtime every couple days and paying by the second business is rough.
- Ice.
Don't get me wrong, I could write a book about things that I love about Uganda more than America, but today isn't about being cynical. Thank you America for the things that you get right.
On the topic of my homeland, I'm beginning to realize that my cynicism about America is just not helpful for me or anybody else. Yes, many parts of the work hate us, and no, I don't completely blame them in some/many cases. But where I am is just out of a crisis and the US has put in effort to help out. I think I need to take a picture of the "Hospital funded by USAID - help from the people of the United States" so whenever I want to strangle our government I will relax a bit because that hospital has saved the lives of many of my friends.
I also appreciate the equality among people that we have in America. The fact that kids are taught growing up that they are worth something (even if that makes them overly proud in many cases). Many girls from the villages, especially ones who returned from the war, think they are worthless in comparison to people in the town or people with any kind of power. The respect that they give them is fine, I won't argue about courtesying or anything, but it's after the initial respect, the fact that they remain on their knees, head bowed, that they talk quietly or not at all to educated people, that they won't ask for what they need and they won't trouble anyone higher than them for anything that gets to my heart.
If I meet a doctor, a university student or a teacher I will give them a firm handshake and look them straight in the eye. I know that despite their certificates, education, whatever, that I am on their same level. But it's very structured here to where one stands.
Other things about America that I am thankful for today:
- Roads. I appreciate the fact that I pay taxes and that the government uses that money to build me roads that I won't ever appreciate.
- Checks and balances. I want to thank whoever crafted this idea, there is so much corruption among the central government that the people really suffer. While we have corruption and scandals, I'm thankful that we generally punish those involved.
- Smoothies. I could really go for one right now. Or a grande light java chip frappachino, no whip. I've been having fantasies about them.
- Minimum wage and strict child labor laws.
- Vaccinations.
- Police. Being able to call them and not having to pay their bribes to come and help you.
- Recycling. My soul throws up a little everyday when I have to throw 4 plastic bottles into the fire pit. Sorry Ozone.
- Unlimited calls. This buying airtime every couple days and paying by the second business is rough.
- Ice.
Don't get me wrong, I could write a book about things that I love about Uganda more than America, but today isn't about being cynical. Thank you America for the things that you get right.
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