MEDICAL DAY at the James Place!
On Saturday we had a Medical Day at the James Place. The fact that so many people and organizations came together to help out the children in this community is so overwhelming, and I was completely blown away! I just love it when the body works together! The Jinja Pregnancy Care Center helped us in getting all the young teenage moms and their babies there to be looked at.
We treated over 400 children and women: Everyone got their feet washed and examined by Sole Hope. They discovered around 10 jiggers - which is an outstanding percentage with that many children! Dr. Charles and a team of nurses from Amani Baby Cottage, Ekisa, and even our team leader for Harpeth Hall saw hundreds in the clinic. The preschool and sewing classes were transformed into a medical clinic serving 200 with tetanus shots, testing 200 for malaria and HIV and handing out over 200 de-worm pills. Most of the people that we minister to in the Rippon Fishing Village were present. And that was so exciting!
The coolest sight was the dentist, Dr. Ryan Shinska, examining patients under the thatch roof! He pulled several teeth and treated many - discovered several of our children that we care for need major repairs. We never would have known any of this without this day. And the Harpeth Hall team from Nashville that was present to serve shipped over entire trunks full of medical supplies and toothbrushes, so every single person leaving the gates received a toothbrush.
At the end of the day, Dr. Charles and Carolyn made a comment to me that really made me see the necessity of treating those that we work with on a weekly basis. A small baby came with her mom because there was free medical attention and a doctor to check her baby. She had malaria and pneumonia and I was told that this child would probably have died if she had not been treated this weekend.
Simple tests and taking the time to be pro-active with those that we work with can make the difference between life and death. We have a team from Nashville here right now and without this group of Harpeth Hall girls, we could not have pulled this day off! We also could not have done it without the amazing staff at HEAL. Everyone came together for one day to care for others......to check, to treat, and to spread the HOPE and LOVE of Christ.
The Harpeth Hall team reminded me tonight as we shared the day's events that life is precious and we are so, so blessed. They are so thankful that they had the opportunity to serve and assists on Saturday, but they have been overwhelmed at the needs and conditions they are seeing and experiencing, especially after attending KIDS Club in Masese and the bible study Under the Tree. We come from a country where medical care is the best in the world and our homes are nice and comfortable. And to be honest, there are some great medical clinics and doctors here in Uganda.........but the people that we serve can not afford to go.......except for one day, at a Medical Clinic at the James Place when an entire community of friends came together to help the least of these! What a beautiful thing!
