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Location:Kampala, Uganda
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Each Child has a Story
Tues and Wed clinic have now run together a little bit in my mind. The group has a pretty good and efficient routine developed now after three days. Well at least better than Monday when we were trying to find what worked.
Yesterday, Tues there were several groups of kids and for the last group that departed late in the day I found it really encouraging when the caregiver was telling me how he was getting phone calls from some of the childrens parents who were anxious for their kids to come home after such a long day. So many kids coming through the clinic do not have parents or family so it was good to know that this group from a rural outreach area had parents for some of the kids.
Kids waiting for their transport at the end of a long day. the red backpacks have a Toothbrush, crayons, coloring book, small bible, shoes, a toy, a framed photo of themself taken before seeing the Dentist and sometimes a new shirt or trousers.
i want to show you here what the kids charts sometimes look like. They are newspapers ingeniously folded and repurposed into Medical charts.
When i say each child has a story, this is of course so true. as I write this I think of a particularily sad story from yesterday, but I will write that later. instead I will briefly tell you about Jen and Janet, in the early part of the day while I am printing photos, I have some curious visitors always watching. Today I thought why not hire some local help! I had two curoius girls hanging out watching and soon put them to work cutting and framing the pictures. They were just a great help. SInce they spoke perfect english we had a nice talk. I thought I remembered them from last year and it turned out that yes, they are Mildmay patients. I was asking them where they lived etc and Jen who is eighteen explained to me that " of course her mother and father have passed". She and her 14 year old sister Janet live together alone, but get help from some other siblings, but she said they are struggling. Both girls were very nicely dressed and looked healthy. Yet two teens living alone. i paid them with a nice donated shirt each. In fact one of the shirts was double donated, brought over with Kim, who received them from the Thrifty Store in Edwards Co gratis. Really, every child has a story and many times it leads to them just wanting an opportunity to be able to go to school, to have hope for better times. Janet whispered to me, "it is my dream and wish to go to America". I truly hope she can get a good education that will lead to a good job in Uganda or wherever she goes.
Overlooking Mildmay from a higher part og the campus.
From Tuesday, Julie asked me to help as she and Dr Rose worked together on a patient.
What a beautiful smile.
Kim showing a little girl her spiderman face painting. Kim, Cathy(a local) and Janelle another Mn volunteer have been making the kids really happy by doing some great face paiting After they see the dentist. Time always seems to be short here i have lots more to write, but want to get this posted while I have an internet connection.
This group of 32 kids got off the Coaster bus and lined up without any instruction that I could see by youngest to oldest and by boys and girls. They were so cute. ~~all for now. C
i want to show you here what the kids charts sometimes look like. They are newspapers ingeniously folded and repurposed into Medical charts.
When i say each child has a story, this is of course so true. as I write this I think of a particularily sad story from yesterday, but I will write that later. instead I will briefly tell you about Jen and Janet, in the early part of the day while I am printing photos, I have some curious visitors always watching. Today I thought why not hire some local help! I had two curoius girls hanging out watching and soon put them to work cutting and framing the pictures. They were just a great help. SInce they spoke perfect english we had a nice talk. I thought I remembered them from last year and it turned out that yes, they are Mildmay patients. I was asking them where they lived etc and Jen who is eighteen explained to me that " of course her mother and father have passed". She and her 14 year old sister Janet live together alone, but get help from some other siblings, but she said they are struggling. Both girls were very nicely dressed and looked healthy. Yet two teens living alone. i paid them with a nice donated shirt each. In fact one of the shirts was double donated, brought over with Kim, who received them from the Thrifty Store in Edwards Co gratis. Really, every child has a story and many times it leads to them just wanting an opportunity to be able to go to school, to have hope for better times. Janet whispered to me, "it is my dream and wish to go to America". I truly hope she can get a good education that will lead to a good job in Uganda or wherever she goes.
Overlooking Mildmay from a higher part og the campus.
From Tuesday, Julie asked me to help as she and Dr Rose worked together on a patient.
What a beautiful smile.
Kim showing a little girl her spiderman face painting. Kim, Cathy(a local) and Janelle another Mn volunteer have been making the kids really happy by doing some great face paiting After they see the dentist. Time always seems to be short here i have lots more to write, but want to get this posted while I have an internet connection.
This group of 32 kids got off the Coaster bus and lined up without any instruction that I could see by youngest to oldest and by boys and girls. They were so cute. ~~all for now. C
Location:Kampala, Uganda
Monday, January 16, 2012
We worked so hard on Saturday we took Sunday off
Seriously, in spite of jet lag and long hours by the end of the day on Saturday, all the equipment was set up and working and the clinic was ready for business. But without patients due until Monday, Sunday became a day off.
if we leave the Mildmay campus the preferred transportation is by Coaster, basically a mid sized bus.
So on Sunday we headed out on the Coaster to Watoto Church, a local market, a local mall and also to a resort on lake Victoria. Kim, Julie and I plus five others chose the local Market and mall after church vs the resort. it was a good choice!! The sevice was great, contemporary Christian, with lots of great music. there must have been several thousand people there +. There was an overflow area. and that was just for the 10 am service. We had to pass through metal detectors on the way in, plus have our bags searched. i don't know how much 'faith' I have in the metal detectors as they seemed to go off constantly, yet everyone was okd to go in.
In the largest city in a country of 31 million people, at the market we picked to go to Julie and I ran into Badru, our friend and Safari driver from last year! All we could do was laugh, hug, say Happy New Year and marvel at this coincidence. Here is Badru
Later shoping at the market one of the vendors looked me up and down and asked "how was service at Watoto". I guess we stood out. Slang here for white people is Muzunga. I believe it is sort of an affectionate term?? Maybe.
Beyond runing into Badru, the market was great also. I never was able to make it to there last year so it was fun to go. Below is one of our felow volunteers Molly with the 7!!! Purses she bought!!
After shopping at the market our group of eight walked to a local indoor air conditioned ! Mall. Above you see some of the famous giany storks of Kampala nesting in a tree right in the city. Hot, thirsty and hungry we sat down at a local restaurant that seemed to borrow it's logo from good ole Starbucks, Green circle with coffee beans. With great flourish our food was served by our kind and professional waiter. i had beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers and mayo on my baguette, because of some past experience I was skeptical of all of it's freshness. My dilema was solved when we had a racauous cockroach chasing session at our table, with lots of screams and finally lots of laughter. We were causing a scene and the waiter came over and very quietly asked if we had a rat at our table. That was pretty much it for appetite. Trying to catch our visitor..
There's more from Sunday, but i gotta run. All for now ~~ C
So on Sunday we headed out on the Coaster to Watoto Church, a local market, a local mall and also to a resort on lake Victoria. Kim, Julie and I plus five others chose the local Market and mall after church vs the resort. it was a good choice!! The sevice was great, contemporary Christian, with lots of great music. there must have been several thousand people there +. There was an overflow area. and that was just for the 10 am service. We had to pass through metal detectors on the way in, plus have our bags searched. i don't know how much 'faith' I have in the metal detectors as they seemed to go off constantly, yet everyone was okd to go in.
In the largest city in a country of 31 million people, at the market we picked to go to Julie and I ran into Badru, our friend and Safari driver from last year! All we could do was laugh, hug, say Happy New Year and marvel at this coincidence. Here is Badru
Later shoping at the market one of the vendors looked me up and down and asked "how was service at Watoto". I guess we stood out. Slang here for white people is Muzunga. I believe it is sort of an affectionate term?? Maybe.
Beyond runing into Badru, the market was great also. I never was able to make it to there last year so it was fun to go. Below is one of our felow volunteers Molly with the 7!!! Purses she bought!!
After shopping at the market our group of eight walked to a local indoor air conditioned ! Mall. Above you see some of the famous giany storks of Kampala nesting in a tree right in the city. Hot, thirsty and hungry we sat down at a local restaurant that seemed to borrow it's logo from good ole Starbucks, Green circle with coffee beans. With great flourish our food was served by our kind and professional waiter. i had beautiful tomatoes, cucumbers and mayo on my baguette, because of some past experience I was skeptical of all of it's freshness. My dilema was solved when we had a racauous cockroach chasing session at our table, with lots of screams and finally lots of laughter. We were causing a scene and the waiter came over and very quietly asked if we had a rat at our table. That was pretty much it for appetite. Trying to catch our visitor..
There's more from Sunday, but i gotta run. All for now ~~ C
Location:Kampala Uganda
Safe Travels and Set Up
Hi all, I am catching up after a few days without internet, its early Tues am in Kampala and I have connectivity so will drop in a couple of posts.
After almost 24 hours of safe travel all 25 volunteers from the US arrived in Uganda intact and with all our stuff. Although, it turns out the containers we packed and shipped in Dec had been held at the airport and were just released and sent to Mildmay almost at the same time we arrived.
So from scratch the setup begins...unpacking and assembling exam tables below.
Everyone was happy to find out the clinic would be in the same bldg as last year, so you kind of knew where to set things up
Above things start to come together. It's great to see familiar faces at Mildmay, below are Freida on the right and her daughter Cathy. Freida works at Mildmay and her daughter Cathy comes to volunteer with our group, helping with registration, translation and helping with the kids.
Two of the dentists, Joni and Justin (who famously met two years ago during the 2010 Mission trip, then got engaged on the 2011 trip & are now married) are above counting out Ugandan Shillings converted from USD. Below, a few beverages at the end of the first day.
.. All for now. ~~C
Everyone was happy to find out the clinic would be in the same bldg as last year, so you kind of knew where to set things up
Above things start to come together. It's great to see familiar faces at Mildmay, below are Freida on the right and her daughter Cathy. Freida works at Mildmay and her daughter Cathy comes to volunteer with our group, helping with registration, translation and helping with the kids.
Two of the dentists, Joni and Justin (who famously met two years ago during the 2010 Mission trip, then got engaged on the 2011 trip & are now married) are above counting out Ugandan Shillings converted from USD. Below, a few beverages at the end of the first day.
.. All for now. ~~C
Location:Kampala Uganda
Thursday, January 5, 2012
The Countdown .. One week out
One week out, and just when I think I either have everything I need or have plans to get it I uncover something else I abolutely must have. Then I remember just how people in Uganda are living with so little. Things we throw out on a daily basis would be treasured.
Still, I still need to pick up my anti Malarial meds, Malarone. Last year my insurance covered this med,this year not, so I have been procrastinating. Fortunately it has gone generic so it costs about half. I need to get bug juice. It goes on and on. Last night I found lots of Christmas candy for 75% off. Please don't tell the Dentists that I am bringing Candy on a trip to help kids with their teeth .. smile... The candy will go in my extra suitcase with other kid stuff, clothing for the kids etc. I've heard the 14 or so shipping crates we packed in December arrived in Kampala! great news! Those were filled with Dental supplies, donations, many things for the children and Hundreds of pairs of shoes with great Thanks to Dr Joanie's Mom who runs a shoe drive to collect them. And Thanks to the great Iowans who donate them. it takes a Village doesn't it!!
Thanks for read and please keep following ~ All for now C
Still, I still need to pick up my anti Malarial meds, Malarone. Last year my insurance covered this med,this year not, so I have been procrastinating. Fortunately it has gone generic so it costs about half. I need to get bug juice. It goes on and on. Last night I found lots of Christmas candy for 75% off. Please don't tell the Dentists that I am bringing Candy on a trip to help kids with their teeth .. smile... The candy will go in my extra suitcase with other kid stuff, clothing for the kids etc. I've heard the 14 or so shipping crates we packed in December arrived in Kampala! great news! Those were filled with Dental supplies, donations, many things for the children and Hundreds of pairs of shoes with great Thanks to Dr Joanie's Mom who runs a shoe drive to collect them. And Thanks to the great Iowans who donate them. it takes a Village doesn't it!!
Thanks for read and please keep following ~ All for now C
Location:Minnesota
Sunday, November 6, 2011
Hi All,
As many of you already know I have decided to go to Uganda again in Jan 2012. I will be part of a mission trip supported by Crossroads Church in Woodbury Mn and the African Christian Fellowship Mn. Our team will be serving in Kampala Uganda for two weeks Jan 12 to the 28th. Uganda is located in East Africa and lies on the Equator. This country has a tragic past with turmoil and strife. Today Uganda is a safe country but still suffers greatly from the tragedy of the AIDS epidemic.
While we are there the Dentists and Assistants will be providing free dental treatment to orphaned children, many whom are infected with the HIV/AIDS virus. We will be at the Mildmay Health Center near Kampala, Uganda. The Dentists and Assistants do amazing work with the kids, many of whom may not have had previous dental care. Along with the 'professionals', we need a strong support staff to keep kids busy, help hold kids in the clinic, run the electrical and dental equipment etc. I will be going as support staff helping to register the kids as they arrive (sometimes 25 or more kids in one small van), keep the kids busy before and after clinic, The other support workers and I will be pouring out love for the kids, sharing messages of hope through games and crafts and reading them stories. I was as times last year overcome with emotion and overwhelmed to be with the children. Their are often many children with a single caregiver. I truly feel so fortunate to be able to go again and help. This year my daughter Kim will be joining the group. I know she will bring so much care and love to these children.
I am writing this post today to ask you to consider joining our team through your support either monetary or supplies.
Along with Dental supplies we are able to ship a limited amount of some things ahead. For example one of the volunteers runs a shoe drive and sent 500 pairs of shoes last year. Almost all of the kids that came through the clinic received one pair of shoes. The kids also received a toothbrush and most received also a toy or stuffed animal. The kids are so grateful for the little things we are able to provide.
I am already collecting some things to bring in my extra suitcase. Things I can use are Matchbox Cars, Beanie Babies and children's socks and underwear.
Another way would be to consider becoming one of my sponsors for this outreach. This trip is paid entirely through sponsorship and personal funding, with an estimated total cost of $2800.00 (including airfare, travel clinic, anti malarial meds, food and supplies) per person.
If you feel led to join our efforts through a tax deductible gift, you may send me a check. Please make your check payable to African Christian Fellowship-MN and write “Uganda Dental Mission”. Please do not write my name anywhere on the check. A donation in any amount (large or small) would be greatly appreciated! Anything that I collect will go partially toward Kim's travel and partially toward the groups overall needs.
You can mail to me at
Colleen Gauron
11608 Sunset Trail
Plymouth, Mn 55441
If you have any questions at all please email me at colleengauron@gmail.com
One more thing I ask, If you haven't read my blog before please check out some of my older posts, including a post from last January titled 'Are you from America, Do you know Mr and Mrs Kelley
One more thing I ask, If you haven't read my blog before please check out some of my older posts, including a post from last January titled 'Are you from America, Do you know Mr and Mrs Kelley
Thank you so much for your consideration. ~C~
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