Saturday, August 29, 2009
Construction Stills
It's been about a month since the group has returned from Agule and we're slowly piecing things together to update our content and materials. Check out this short video clip of the roofing stage of construction (photos courtesy of Sean Kerr, music by Will Phillips).
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Thanks For The Memories
Just thought we'd share everyone's thoughts on the experience, in their own words...
Family and Friends,
I want to thank you for all your support and prayers in the past month that I have been in Pallisa, Uganda with the group Akia-Ashianut (Medicine Blessing in Ateso). I had the amazing privilege of working along side of eleven other great people, that I now call family, at the Agule Community Health Center. Without your prayers, encouragement, moral and financial support, none of this would have been possible.
I find it hard to put this experience into words, because trying to explain this place doesn’t do it any justice. In the last week we were there, Anneka, one of the trip leaders, told us “Don’t try to tell the story of this place, for it already has a voice. Tell your story in this place and their story will shine through.” Our team had the awesome opportunity of watching God move through this place and privilege to be part of that movement.
One of our biggest goals was to see the completion of the second ward for the clinic (the maternity ward) which was just a shell of a building for the past two years due to a lack of major funds. We are glad and awestruck to see this building come to life in the short time we were there. It was amazing to watch how these men constructed something solid and permanent for the community using no machinery and only their ingenuity, strength and determination.
We were able to help twist metal into beams that gave support to the concrete over the windows and doors and watched as the clay bricks were laid up higher and higher, lifting the walls and gables to roofing levels. We helped lift the wooden trusses up to the roof with our hands and wooden beams as lifts and levers. We shoveled and moved in at least two tons of dirt and sand (grout) into the ward to help level the floor as the workers lifted up thin iron sheets and nailed them to the wooden beams, creating a roof over our heads. We watched as the concrete was poured over the floor, bringing the building one more step closer to a functional ward.
It was breathtaking to watch as this building came to life. While we were not able to see it completed in our time there, it should be up and functional in the next couple of months. Akia-Ashianut is still in the process of raising funds to allow for the walls to be cemented and plastered, windows and doors put in, and beds to be placed in the clinic, as well as gaining enough prayers to begin filling the place with joy.
We also had the opportunities to work alongside the amazing nurses and doctors of the Agule Community Health Center, assisting them where we could and learning through hands on experience and through interactions with patients. As a medical missions trip, our primary focus was helping the medical staff of the clinic with our individual talents and skills, from helping diagnose patients to putting in IV’s, talking and learning Ateso in the hopes of comforting patients to riding in the ambulance along side them, working in the lab to helping deliver babies, and organizing supplies and paperwork to, in my case, staying out of the way.
Those who were comfortable with helping in a medical setting took the opportunity to help out with medical work. Others of us sat back and observed from a distance. We saw many people and many different infections and diseases, but about ninety percent of the cases that came in were Malaria. Each diagnoses meant that another person had to be hooked up to an IV line for Quinine treatment, unless it was caught early enough (within a couple days of infection) and then a treatment of oral pills would do the work.
While most of the cases that we saw were manageable for the clinic, there were some days when the patient would be beyond the care that the clinic could provide and we would have to rush them to the government run hospital in Pallisa Town, a 25 minute dash across dirt roads in the back of an ambulance, or a bota-bota (motorbike) when the keys cant be found at four o’clock in the morning. On average, we would have to make this journey once a week, except for the last couple of days when we had to use the ambulance four times, twice in a single day.
While I would like to say that everything worked out medically while we were there, it wasn’t the case. In the first week, a tiny child was brought in (only 6 months old) with a severe case of Malaria. Unfortunately there was nothing we could do, even though we tried. The parents had gone to a witch doctor who told them to feed the child some herbs and to pray, by the time that they rushed her to the clinic, she had no pulse and didn’t bleed when her finger was pricked. There are very few words that can begin to describe the feelings I felt as I watched a life fade before my very eyes.
In our sorrow and through death, God showed us the opportunities of life. Days later, the team had the strength and wisdom to save an older gentleman from the brink of death. The next week, some of the members of the team also helped birth a beautiful and healthy baby boy into this world. We got the opportunity to experience something that few people ever dream of experiencing, the beauty of life and death.
We also got to experience the Ugandan community each day, as we lived on the grounds of the clinic and were surrounded by the beauty of life around us. Each morning we were woken by a lovely chorus of cows and roosters, as well as the little children who lived behind the compound in which we were staying. It was a blessing that many of us often overlooked.
Each afternoon, children flocked to the clinic to see and play with the Mzungus (white people). We were constantly surrounded by kids who didn’t want to do anything else than get your attention (or a picture). We played soccer, listened to traditional music, climbed trees, and danced in the rain. The kids and the adults enjoyed having us around, and we loved being there amongst them, experiencing life in Uganda.
There is a saying that “Home is where the Heart is.” If that is true, then each and every one of us will tell you that our homes will forever be the Agule Community Health Center. Something about that place stole a piece of each and every one of our hearts.
I want to thank you for all your support and prayers in the past month that I have been in Pallisa, Uganda with the group Akia-Ashianut (Medicine Blessing in Ateso). I had the amazing privilege of working along side of eleven other great people, that I now call family, at the Agule Community Health Center. Without your prayers, encouragement, moral and financial support, none of this would have been possible.
I find it hard to put this experience into words, because trying to explain this place doesn’t do it any justice. In the last week we were there, Anneka, one of the trip leaders, told us “Don’t try to tell the story of this place, for it already has a voice. Tell your story in this place and their story will shine through.” Our team had the awesome opportunity of watching God move through this place and privilege to be part of that movement.
One of our biggest goals was to see the completion of the second ward for the clinic (the maternity ward) which was just a shell of a building for the past two years due to a lack of major funds. We are glad and awestruck to see this building come to life in the short time we were there. It was amazing to watch how these men constructed something solid and permanent for the community using no machinery and only their ingenuity, strength and determination. We were able to help twist metal into beams that gave support to the concrete over the windows and doors and watched as the clay bricks were laid up higher and higher, lifting the walls and gables to roofing levels. We helped lift the wooden trusses up to the roof with our hands and wooden beams as lifts and levers. We shoveled and moved in at least two tons of dirt and sand (grout) into the ward to help level the floor as the workers lifted up thin iron sheets and nailed them to the wooden beams, creating a roof over our heads. We watched as the concrete was poured over the floor, bringing the building one more step closer to a functional ward.
It was breathtaking to watch as this building came to life. While we were not able to see it completed in our time there, it should be up and functional in the next couple of months. Akia-Ashianut is still in the process of raising funds to allow for the walls to be cemented and plastered, windows and doors put in, and beds to be placed in the clinic, as well as gaining enough prayers to begin filling the place with joy.
We also had the opportunities to work alongside the amazing nurses and doctors of the Agule Community Health Center, assisting them where we could and learning through hands on experience and through interactions with patients. As a medical missions trip, our primary focus was helping the medical staff of the clinic with our individual talents and skills, from helping diagnose patients to putting in IV’s, talking and learning Ateso in the hopes of comforting patients to riding in the ambulance along side them, working in the lab to helping deliver babies, and organizing supplies and paperwork to, in my case, staying out of the way.
Those who were comfortable with helping in a medical setting took the opportunity to help out with medical work. Others of us sat back and observed from a distance. We saw many people and many different infections and diseases, but about ninety percent of the cases that came in were Malaria. Each diagnoses meant that another person had to be hooked up to an IV line for Quinine treatment, unless it was caught early enough (within a couple days of infection) and then a treatment of oral pills would do the work.
While most of the cases that we saw were manageable for the clinic, there were some days when the patient would be beyond the care that the clinic could provide and we would have to rush them to the government run hospital in Pallisa Town, a 25 minute dash across dirt roads in the back of an ambulance, or a bota-bota (motorbike) when the keys cant be found at four o’clock in the morning. On average, we would have to make this journey once a week, except for the last couple of days when we had to use the ambulance four times, twice in a single day.
While I would like to say that everything worked out medically while we were there, it wasn’t the case. In the first week, a tiny child was brought in (only 6 months old) with a severe case of Malaria. Unfortunately there was nothing we could do, even though we tried. The parents had gone to a witch doctor who told them to feed the child some herbs and to pray, by the time that they rushed her to the clinic, she had no pulse and didn’t bleed when her finger was pricked. There are very few words that can begin to describe the feelings I felt as I watched a life fade before my very eyes.
In our sorrow and through death, God showed us the opportunities of life. Days later, the team had the strength and wisdom to save an older gentleman from the brink of death. The next week, some of the members of the team also helped birth a beautiful and healthy baby boy into this world. We got the opportunity to experience something that few people ever dream of experiencing, the beauty of life and death.
We also got to experience the Ugandan community each day, as we lived on the grounds of the clinic and were surrounded by the beauty of life around us. Each morning we were woken by a lovely chorus of cows and roosters, as well as the little children who lived behind the compound in which we were staying. It was a blessing that many of us often overlooked.
Each afternoon, children flocked to the clinic to see and play with the Mzungus (white people). We were constantly surrounded by kids who didn’t want to do anything else than get your attention (or a picture). We played soccer, listened to traditional music, climbed trees, and danced in the rain. The kids and the adults enjoyed having us around, and we loved being there amongst them, experiencing life in Uganda.
There is a saying that “Home is where the Heart is.” If that is true, then each and every one of us will tell you that our homes will forever be the Agule Community Health Center. Something about that place stole a piece of each and every one of our hearts.
Without your amazing prayers, encouragement, financial and moral support throughout the trip, none of this would have been possible. Again, I want to thank each and every one of you for helping make this dream become a reality for the people of Agule.
God Bless and PEACE
Sean Kerr
God Bless and PEACE
Sean Kerr
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Home Is Where the Heart Is
Dear All,
To give you a brief update, the beds will be placed in once construction is complete. For those of you that supported the thirtyfivethirty bed program thank you so much!
After saying goodbye to Scott at the airport in Entebbe (he is in Kenya for the next week and a half and then Addis Ababa, Ethiopia until December - please keep him in your prayers as he continues his amazing journey!) and many many hours cramped on a plane, the group arrived safely at the Dulles airport. While we are all physically back in Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, Tennessee, Colorado and Massachusetts I truly believe that a giant-sized piece of each of our hearts remains in Agule. We cannot begin to thank you enough for the many ways you have supported us - thank you for bringing Agule into our lives. We have tried to bring Agule to you as well, and will continue to tell our stories of our time there as we begin to process all that we have witnessed, felt, heard, accomplished and loved.
To give you a brief update, the beds will be placed in once construction is complete. For those of you that supported the thirtyfivethirty bed program thank you so much!
We may not physically be in Agule anymore, but our trip is far from over as the next few days, weeks and months will reveal to us even more about our time in this beautiful community - and, while we accomplished amazing things during our stay there, we still have a lot of exciting work ahead of us!
Please stay tuned for continued updates on how we are all doing and what our next steps for this project will be...
Grace and Love,
Anneka
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
sunny days, chasing the clouds away
we had a slow day in the clinic and decided to give to a semi-Cribs style introduction to the clinic and a few of its people. at times it can be tough so laughter and maturity always go hand and hand, all of it done with encouragement and enthusiasm of the patients and medical staff. we hope you enjoy!
on a more serious note, please pray for the health of our team. as we are finishing the closing chapters of our journey it is vital to our team that we be in good order physically and spiritually. thank you for your faith behind us.
much love,
scott
Tuesday July 21st 2009 7:30pm.
on a more serious note, please pray for the health of our team. as we are finishing the closing chapters of our journey it is vital to our team that we be in good order physically and spiritually. thank you for your faith behind us.
much love,
scott
Tuesday July 21st 2009 7:30pm.
mzungu, you be my wife
The amazing thing about being in a place that is ravished my so much disease and heartache is that it allows miracles to abound. Yesterday, God was smiling on us as Anneka, Matt, and Bethany were able to assist in delivering a beautiful, healthy baby boy. After a long, hot week of construction, this was a welcome encouragement.
I wish you could all see the way the maternity ward is progressing – it’s not something you can really put into words. If you blink at the wrong time, you’ll open your eyes to find a roof that wasn’t there before or another grassy and root-laden hill turned into the base for a floor. I have been an eyewitness to all of this, but I’m honestly not sure how it has all happened. Like I said before, miracles are abounding.
When we first got here, I think we were all a bit overwhelmed by what we could do, on an individual basis, to bring something meaningful to this place that is so profoundly affecting us all. Now, with less than a week remaining in this beautiful country, the time-crunch is motivating some really nifty innovations. There is now a mural in the hallway where patients line up on a daily basis to receive treatment and hope, and screens (i.e., spliced mosquito nets) have been pasted over the vents in an attempt to curb the success of the malaria-ridden mosquitoes. Additionally, contracting skills are being summoned in order to craft soccer goals for the children.
At this point, we’re all coping with having to leave in different ways. However, one thing is certain – the plane ride back will leave a Pallisa-sized hole in all of our hearts. We have learned that no matter how many ways we dream up to serve these people, we will never be able to match the blessings we have received. I just pray that the red Ugandan clay and all of the memories that it holds will be coursing through our veins as long as the 12 of us will live.
-Kelcie
Tuesday July 20th 2009 8:47pm
I wish you could all see the way the maternity ward is progressing – it’s not something you can really put into words. If you blink at the wrong time, you’ll open your eyes to find a roof that wasn’t there before or another grassy and root-laden hill turned into the base for a floor. I have been an eyewitness to all of this, but I’m honestly not sure how it has all happened. Like I said before, miracles are abounding.
When we first got here, I think we were all a bit overwhelmed by what we could do, on an individual basis, to bring something meaningful to this place that is so profoundly affecting us all. Now, with less than a week remaining in this beautiful country, the time-crunch is motivating some really nifty innovations. There is now a mural in the hallway where patients line up on a daily basis to receive treatment and hope, and screens (i.e., spliced mosquito nets) have been pasted over the vents in an attempt to curb the success of the malaria-ridden mosquitoes. Additionally, contracting skills are being summoned in order to craft soccer goals for the children.
At this point, we’re all coping with having to leave in different ways. However, one thing is certain – the plane ride back will leave a Pallisa-sized hole in all of our hearts. We have learned that no matter how many ways we dream up to serve these people, we will never be able to match the blessings we have received. I just pray that the red Ugandan clay and all of the memories that it holds will be coursing through our veins as long as the 12 of us will live.
-Kelcie
Tuesday July 20th 2009 8:47pm
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Red Roof Inn
You know, those hotels that look like cabins on the side of highways with the giant red roofs…Red Roof Inn! Thats the one! I’ve never actually stayed at one but the maternity ward we have been building slightly resembles one, minus the cabin look… This past week we all got quite skilled with shovels, hoes, and wheel barrels. Moving over 400 barrels of dirt to level the floor of the clinic, with another 200ish to go we are hoping to cement the floor early next week. Yesterday contractors came and put up the Legos of the big red roof…Considering a week ago we weren’t even sure we would be able to pay for it, it feels like quite a feat.
This is 72 hours in 10 seconds…
much love
scott
Sunday July 19th 2009 3:03pm
Friday, July 17, 2009
Out of Stock (sort of)
friends,
“If the world was how it should be, then maybe I could get some sleep.”
So the past few days have been quite spectacular. In less than 48 hours, we sold out of spots for beds and couldn’t be more excited about it. This is good news. If you are still interested giving please know there is still plenty of room for your support to be used. We are doing our best to process things as they happen in the states and connect them to the project here before we leave. This weekend we will be roofing and cementing the floor. Please pray construction delays are minimal. Also, Bethany and Kelcie have been making screens for the vents on the clinic to prevent mosquitoes from coming in at night. David Geigerman is working hard on building some soccer goals as well!
Yesterday we mediated on Proverbs 4:16. It talks about how wicked men can not sleep until they do evil; they will be robbed of slumber until they make someone fall. What if the whole world didn’t sleep until we did good. If righteous men made it their mission. My urge is that we will not sleep until we do good. A posture to forsake own vital needs until we have made a difference, until we do good. Tonight we can sleep well knowing many of you have done and helped us do good works. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you.
scott
P.S. we see the same children everyday, and they are quite fun. Sometimes is hard to talk, but if you’ve ever wondered how to communicate with someone who speaks a different language than you, this might help… :)
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
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