Here's what's on the menu...

As most of you who follow our updates know, this past year we hired on a full time nutritionist for our center here in Jinja.  Her name is Peace and she is a recent graduate from a local
University in Kampala so as you can imagine everyday she is excited and eager to teach our moms about nutrition.  Since Peace has been with us, she has helped us improve our everyday menu for both moms and babies as well as introduced us to new ideas and more nutritious ways to prepare our foods.  Everyday, alongside of our social worker Jackie, she teaches an afternoon Nutrition class where all our moms learn about food groups, the importance of vitamins and other nutrients, balancing their child's diet as well as their own, and overall health and sanitation.














One of the most exciting [as well as interactive] ideas Peace has brought to SHC is weekly Food Demonstrations with our moms.  Once or twice a week she gathers all our moms around the kitchen and allows them to cook a nutritious meal for their child staying here with us.  These classes are completely hands on for everyone involved.  Demonstrations vary each week from, Weaning Foods, to Body Strengthening Meals, to Protein Enriched Porridge, to several others.  Using only local foods and traditional cooking methods our moms are able to use what they have learned in these demonstrations from their homes.

Edgar

Just 45 minutes beyond Jinja, Uganda lies a district called Namatumba.   Within Namatumba there are over 50 villages and this past year about 5 to 7 of them were hit pretty hard with malnutrition.  One of the central health centers in the area treating most of the children suffering from poor nutrition (located just outside of Namatumba town) is called Magada Health Center 4.  Picture if you will, a small hospital that's slightly larger than your average village clinic.

In Uganda Health Centers (HC) are numbered according to the services they are able to provide.  They start with 1, a HC1 is typically a community based initiative with the goal of educating local villages and teaching preventative care for common sicknesses/illnesses and other diseases.  Then there's Health Center 2's; they are a step up from a HC 1, basically they are dispensaries usually with one nurse that can assess and treat minor sicknesses and illnesses only providing outpatient services.  Next is HC3; they basically provide everything a HC2 does but with laboratory services and small inpatient ward. Then here is HC 4, which is just a step below a hospital.  They provide everything that the other HC's do with a larger inpatient ward, a small setup for emergency surgeries as well as a maternity ward.

We here at Serving His Children are very familiar with that Magada Health Center 4; because just the year prior the WHO declared the entire district of Namatumba to be in a state of emergency due to their large influx of malnutrition cases in all their surrounding villages.  Many of the children from that health center were actually referred to our program in Jinja and throughout the year we took several trips to Magada to help in any way that we could.

This year when we got the call that Namatumba was experiencing pretty much the same problem that they had encountered the year before but this time just in fewer villages we decided that the best way to help was through education and awareness.  So for the month of August and part of October we traveled to each of these villages as well as the Health Center weekly and taught basic nutrition classes to moms, dads, grandmothers, and to anyone interested!  Each day we would begin at the health center teaching the moms who were admitted there with their sick children, then the later half of the day we would spend out in a village doing a teaching and training course on Nutrition tagged along with a bible study lead by our on staff pastor Happy.  That's where we came upon Edgar.

At the time Edgar was admitted into the health center for medical treatment and spent about 4 days there with no signs of improvement.  His whole body was swollen with Oedema from a protein deficiency and his skin, all over his body, was literally peeling off as if it were burned from a Zinc and Vitamin D deficiency.  He was in pretty rough shape.  The nurses pleaded with us to take him to our center in Jinja, saying that they weren't staffed or equipped to manage a case such as his.  It didn't take us long to accept.  We spoke with his mom, explained to her our program and she was in the car minutes later ready to go.

After about 2 weeks at our center Edgar had marked signs of improvement.   His dead skin had all peeled off (after several baths where he soaked in a solution called 1% potassium permangante) and revealed new and beautiful healthy looking skin!  His swelling went down after being on a high calorie formula and by week 3 he was a transformed young man with a strong appetite!   We praise God for guiding us to the health center that Edgar was at, and we thank him for all the connections he has made for us in Namatumba.  So far we have taught over 30 Nutrition classes in Namatumba district and we truly pray that the education and awareness about good nutrition and hygiene that we are passing along to them is sticking.  We also pray that as we travel through these villages and health centers and speak to people that Christ would be made known as our ultimate healer.  Please join us in prayer for lasting health for Edgar and for the district of Namatumba.  Thank you.

Evanas

Some of you may or may not know that Serving His Children runs an outpatient program in a district called, Manafwa. We have been traveling to that area every other week for over 2 years now…. 2 Mondays out of the month we pack up our team and leave at 6am, drive 3 hours northeast and set up an assessment clinic for the day. We run assessments from the porch of a government health center, give out supplementary food packages and prescribe vitamins and medications appropriately.  Sometimes we see 20 kids and sometimes we see over 70. You just never really know. Often times we back home in Masese until well after dark…sometimes with a vanload of mammas and sick babies if they are too severe to leave from home. 

Currently, Manafwa is actually where a lot of our inpatient cases are coming from! We of course do our best to give treatment/teaching to these families for an in-home recovery, and frequently we find outpatient care to be very effective! But, when the child is too severe and has a lot of other complications we have them transferred into our Jinja center for further and more intense treatment.

This is how little Evanas came to be with us…

I remember spotting his skinny little legs sticking out of a dirty blanket, and looking up to see his Dad’s downcast eyes, shameful of his Son’s poor physical condition.  The fact that his Son was 4 years old and yet only weighed as much as a small infant was likely what had kept him away from the health center for so long…shame of the neglect he and his wife had put their son through.  

After only a quick glance I knew why they had been so neglectful. Evanas has Cerebral Palsy.  In Uganda children with a disability such as this are not favorably looked upon at all. And yes, they are often left in unthinkable conditions.  

When Evanas reached the front of the line we carefully explained the severity of his condition, and asked if they would be willing to come to Jinja for further treatment.  Desperate to keep his son alive, he agreed!

Hours later we were heading back to Jinja with Evanas and his mom (not to mention her newborn as well!).

Evanas stayed with us for one month. During that time we saw a little boy come to life and form an attitude that made us all laugh. We witnessed him learn to eat real food and walk with the assistance of his Mom!  And most of all we got to be a part of God teaching a Mother to love again!  

 

Shafeek.

Our next featured child of 2012 is Shafeek (age 1 year 6 months)

Shafeek came to us in June of 2012. I remember it was a Saturday because we were serving beans and posho for lunch (the usual Saturday afternoon meal).  I remember he came right around 1pm because lunch was just being served….

I had just handed out all plates, piled high with food, when I peeked my head out onto the veranda to double check that everyone had their meals. That’s when I noticed an unfamiliar face seated at one of our outside tables.  In her lap lay a motionless small child wrapped completely up in a blanket.  As you can imagine both the nurse and I were pretty anxious to see whom she had under there…. 

Just as we were becoming acquainted with the woman holding the child a man entered our gate and headed toward the place we sat, we quickly learned that the man was the child’s father... As they both explained to us their story we learned that they had traveled from a village about an hour or so away seeking medical treatment for the little boy named, Shafeek.  They had known about SHC because this very woman – the child’s grandmother - had her son rehabilitated in our program about a year prior.  So when she had found out that her grandson was suffering from malnutrition she knew exactly where to come: our house!  As they were explaining this story she slowly uncovered Shafeek from what seemed like layers and layers of blankets.  Shafeek was practically skin and bones.  His entire rib cage was exposed and he looked like he hadn’t had water, or any kind of fluids for that matter in days.  His poor little body was so frail and he just barley had enough energy to give out a faint cry as our nurse took him for examination… 

I know what you must think, how could a child be so neglected?  Well, we thought the same, so we asked more questions.  Shafeek was taken into his mother’s custody when his parents split up a little after he was born.  His father said he hadn’t seen him up until just a day or two ago when his mother dropped him at his doorstep.  As sad as this is, it’s not an uncommon story.  Often when a mother remarries the stepparent does not want the stepchild, neglecting or abandoning them completely.   After Shafeek was left to his Father the Grandmother stepped in, and brought him to us for help.

Shafeek was with us for about 5 weeks.  His progression was slow and steady but each and every day he gained a little more strength!  He went from a weak & frail baby to feisty & slim one, to happy & fat little boy.   These types of transformations are what we hope for with all of the children who come through our inpatient program, and its a sincere privilege to witness firsthand! They are living proof of who God really is and what He is capable of!  He restores. He renews. He makes all things new.  He is our healer and our redeemer. 

Please continue to pray with us that seeds were truly planted within Shafeek’s grandmother and father.  They are a Muslim family and we really hope and pray that one day they will come to know the Lord.  We have done several home visits to Shafeek’s grandmother’s home where he now lives.  He has continued to improve greatly since his discharge from our program in July. 

It was an honor to serve this little boy, and it’s so amazing to watch him to continue to grow up!

Welcome 2013!

To bring in the New Year we would like to briefly share with you some of the stories of children who came through our program back in 2012.  Each week for the next month or so we will be featuring a different SHC child…. Our hope is that you will be able to get a little glimpse of what God was up to here last year! We would also like to challenge you to join us in prayer for some of the sweet children and families who passed though our hands, as well as our hearts!

So here we go….

Our first child is, Elijah!

Baby Elijah came to us when he was just a little skinny guy.  He actually came as a referral from another wonderful ministry in Jinja, Arise Africa.  Elijah’s parents both died when he was only weeks old, after their passing a local relative took up the responsibility of caring for him. But she was an elderly Jaja (Grandmother) and had no means to care for a young infant, so as time passed Elijah grew smaller instead of bigger. Despite her attempt at caring for the baby he became very sick and she began to seek out help. That’s when God led her to Arise Africa’s babies home! Or maybe it was more that God led them to her….

From there Elijah was brought to Jinja and referred to us for Nutritional Rehabilitation. Since Elijah was a total orphan and there was no family member who was willing or able to stay at our center for the duration of his recovery, one of the Aunties from the baby home became Elijah’s stand in Mommy!  And I must say, a very special bond was formed between those two… They were together though many fearful nights on oxygen, hurried drives to Kampala for Dr. consults, and days held up in cramped government hospitals. That Auntie got up every 2 hours around the clock to feed him, and cared for him as if he were her very own! When he was on deaths door step she shed many tears and prayed like any mother would.  And when he slowly started to heal, she played and laughed with him like a mother would! 

And eventually he did laugh…but before the laughter there was more then one time when we all thought God was taking His sweet baby boy home to be with him.  But God chose to leave him here with us for a while longer, and wow, watching that transformation take place was an absolute honor.  God healed Elijah from the most severe pneumonia I’ve ever seen in an infant, extensive tuberculosis, severe malnutrition, and advanced HIV/AIDS.  Good thing God is still in the business of miracles because that’s really the only explanation for what took place.

We walked a long, challenging road. But, we walked it together with so many faithful prayer warriors!

I would like to say a special thanks to Arise Africa! Their staff was so supportive and encouraging every step of the way! We as an organization are so thankful for the ministry that God has called them to here in Uganda. Proud to call you guys our friends and co-labors for Christ!

Today Elijah is hanging out at the Arise Home being loved on by many including his special Auntie!!

We would also like to send a special thank you to Dacia Newton who works for Arise Africa for bringing Elijah to us and sticking by him through it all.

     

Seasons Greetings

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from all of us at SHC!

Thank you to all our 2012 supporters! We couldn't have done this year without you.

SHC 2012 from servinghischildren on Vimeo.

Today, we welcome some fresh new faces to our center.  Please join us in prayer as we host Ashavin, Rachel, Joel, Irene and Benon as well as their caretakers.  Pray for complete and total restoration both physically and spiritually for them all.  Renewed hearts and lasting change is our prayer!

And at the same time we say farewell to some beautifully restored faces. Praise the Lord!  Join us as we pray for Ziadi, Rita, Maria and Fatuma as they all head back home with their caretakers to their families and friends.  We pray that any seeds that may have been planted in their time here with us would not only continue to grow, but flourish! 

Thank you to to all our supporters all across the globe!