Medical Clinics, February 5-7

The first week of February, we hosted 3 medical clinics in villages outside Mbale. Two of our national teammates from Kampala, Darla and Ellen, came to run the clinics. Ellen is a Doctor and Darla was a nurse for several years in the states before coming to Uganda. They also brought a visiting nurse, Rachel, with them. We went to a different village each day. At each site we were met by a large crowd of people already waiting to receive medical attention. Some people traveled a very long way to get there.

The nurses visited with the people first to see which ones needed to see the doctor and which ones could be treated or given medication and information right then. If they needed to see the doctor, they then went to registration and filled out an information sheet and waited to be seen. Many people had malaria tests and/or urine analysis done. We also had a simple pharmacy set up with many common medication needs.

Possibly the greatest part of each clinic was the spiritual counseling that took place. Many of the rural church leaders went with us each day. When people had received their physical help, they then received spiritual counseling and prayer from these leaders. There were many people who were greatly blessed by this and many that took steps toward Christ because of it.

The first day, I helped with registration all morning and then helped in the pharmacy (counting pills) in the afternoon. The next day, as a veteran of registration, I did that again in the morning. In the afternoon, I learned how to do malaria testing and helped with that. Then on the third day, I was given a quick lesson on testing urine and the spent the rest of the day doing malaria testing and urine analysis. I was glad that I got to move around each day and see what each different station was doing.

The clinics were basic in nature, but the people were very excited to receive the help that they did. It was such a blessing to be a part of something that reached out to very real physical and spiritual needs of the people here. God was glorified and many people, including those of us working the clinics, were blessed.

2am Super Bowl Party

It is 6:30am and I am sitting at my computer debating whether or not I should try to get in a nap before beginning my day. I just got back from watching the Super Bowl live thanks to the Tyler's satellite TV and ESPN's international broadcast of the game! I went to bed early last night so that I could wake up for the game. While I should probably feel like this:


I actually feel pretty good! This could be due to the fact that I have had coffee and tea.


I wasn't particularly vested in either of the teams, I just love football and this was the only chance that I would have to see a live game all season! Besides, Super Bowl parties are always fun and now I have wonderful memories of getting up at the ridiculously early hour of 2am to hang out with friends from the community and watch some football!

I needed to have a team to root for, so I decided going into it that I would be a Colts fan because I like Peyton Manning and my sister-in-law is from Indiana. I'm glad those two factors helped me choose the winning team! Most of the others at the party had decided to be Colts fans as well, so I was in good company. The rest of the single ladies (other than the teenagers) bailed on me and didn't go to the game. We are doing medical clinics out in villages this week and apparently they thought they needed sleep for this! I'm so glad that I went anyway! Such fun!

(Leila Shelburne and I)

(Community Friends)

(Shawn and Linda Tyler - Thanks for hosting the game!)

(The girls spent most of their time enjoying the fact that they were able to hang out at such an absurd hour, talking, eating junk food, and making a new friend - I think they named him Todd.)

(The boys probably had the most comfy seats in the house! I think they also struggled a little to stay awake at times!)

We're Painting our Kitchen!

Since we arrived here in August, our kitchen has been white, all white. While white is clean, and there is nothing at all wrong with it, we have been longing for color for some time. We even bought paint in November and hadn't done anything with it. So, a few weeks ago we decided to do something about it and add a little life to our kitchen. A hand towel that Jennifer brought with her inspired the colors and pattern and we all thought it was really fun. I love painting. I love getting messy and not caring. And I love the final product!