i have always said 'it will break your heart if you let it'. other than letting africa dig its tendrils deeper into my heart, i have been pretty safe here. i have been shielded from the extreme poverty and realities that are a third world african country....... until now.....

i had the opportunity to donate blood the other day. it was an emergency. i was approached by watoto staff and was more than happy to assist. a little one in our premie unit, jethro, was in need of blood that afternoon. within 20min of saying yes i was on a hard table next to him in the 'surgery' clinic praying that they could get enough blood from my veins to restore life to one of God's children. with much coaxing and prayer, my veins complied. he is still not doing well though. he has an unknown illness and a heart condition. the surgery wanted to send him back to watoto yesterday to die in our care. we are believing for better than that. we serve a God who is a great physician and miraculous healer. we sent him to another hospital yesterday in search of answers, but his prognosis is still grim.....

i was also able to meet a very special little boy yesterday. his name is elisha. he is 3 and has a twin brother elijah. they are the cutest children you will ever meet. the only problem is that elisha was born with a massive hole in his heart ( a vsd for all of my medical friends!). he is at the hospital and will be undergoing open heart surgery today to repair it. it would be a big deal surgery in the US, it could mean never waking up here again in uganda. we were able to bring elijah to see his brother yesterday at mulago hospital. i braced myself for what i knew was going to be a rough trip, but the conditions were more shocking than i even envisioned. there are people everywhere- beds/floors/hallways. the wards are dirty and cramped. parents or family members must supply their own bedding/food/nursing care to their loved one and often sleep on straw mats next to the patient during the length of their stay. babies get abandoned there and will literally die unless places like watoto pick them up because mulago only provides the doctors and no support care. in the infant ward, there is a bin (thankfully i didn't see this) where they throw dead babies each day..... horrid. how i yearn to come back here someday and create a hospital that gives the sick a chance at life. but that is where we left a sobbing elisha at the end of the day. please pray that God heals this little boy's heart in surgery today and returns him to his twin 'kk'. ......and on a selfish note, pray for my heart as i wrestle through the emotions of all of this......

elijah

elisha and elijah at the mulago hospital

jethro