I know I have already posted about this, but would like to explain more about what I did during these weeks and introduce you more to the family I worked with.
Every week before going to meet with my family we stopped at the "town center"-- a few little shops and chapati stands.
At my clinical house, they dye the baby chickens purple so larger animals think they are dangerous and won't eat them.
These are the little kids I worked with. Most of them had what my Ugandan nurse called "ringworm." it was scabs on their heads and one little boy had around his ears.
The older girl, she was about 8, was the one who took care of the little baby when the mother was away for the day for work.
This is the owner of the compound/home. She was a very nice elderly lady who spoke zero english. I know very few phrases in Luganda, but she loved it when I tried.
Her major health concern was cataracts, so we educated her on where she could go to get that fix. She was encouraged that it could be medically corrected because she has many grandchildren to take care of.
I didn't get to know this little girl very well, but we did assess the progress of the scabs on her head over the weeks.
I fell in love with these two. The older one had such a sense of humor. Even though we didn't speak the same language we connected. :)
This is the road we took to get to the home I went to, not a major high way, but not what we consider a gravel road. This is one of the main roads in Buntaba/Calagala
THE WHOLE GROUP!!!
This is some of the grandchildren living on the compound. Some of them are under the care of the grandmother and some live with their parents on the same compound (two houses, one compound)
Me and the family! (My UCU nursing student didn't know how to work my camera)
Me and the "old lady" This is on my last day. I was sad to leave. I loved working with this family. She was so grateful and willing to work hard to make her compound safer and improve her health.
I had one of the kids take this one- haha. The women in the white shirt is my Ugandan Nursing student partner. She was funny. She spoke english, but sometimes there were mix-ups.
She was a blessing to have- especially since she knew the language. She was not afraid to just jump into telling the women what to change and how to do it.
This is a panorama of the backyard of the home I worked at. The building on the left is the pit latrine- squatty potty. The one on the right is the kitchen house. They had a three stone fire pit they cooked on. This is a safety concern because they balance the pot on the three stones and put the fire underneath. On the far right is the water tank they collect rain water in. I was impressed with this because it quite innovative for this area.
Before I left I gave all the kids a jolly-rancher-- a taste of American candy. They loved it, but they didn't like keeping it in their mouths- so they had very sticky hands
The last two weeks we added a second home. It was a complicated family history, but I tried to figure it all out.
One of the little babies at this house had malnutrition and measles. My heart broke for him, but they were getting him treatment for the measles and were trying to give him healthier foods.
The mother at the second house and my nursing partner.
Me and a CUTE BABY!!! I just want to hold and squeeze all the babies here!!! (Maybe take some home ;)
Grandma and baby!
Back at the town center before going home I met these two cuties! "HELLO MUZUNGU!!" "How are you?," I would ask. "I'M FINE!" and that was the extent of our conversations.
The littler one had bowed legs. I'm not sure if they are in the process of getting corrected or not.
I loved working with my family and playing with all of the little kids.
The main objectives working at this home was educating the owner about health promotion. We asked her health concerns and addressed those as well as asking her about what she does to prevent illness. We also went around the compound and talked about health risks factors. These included making the kitchen safer, covering the holes to the pit latrine, removing standing water to prevent mosquitos from breeding, and moving the compost pile farther away from the house.
