Friday, June 5, 2015

The Resettlement

Four days ago our team sat on picnic tables in the side yard of the Sole Hope outreach clinic, taking notes as to where jiggers had buried themselves on tiny, and not to tiny, feet.  We literally had a front row view of how jiggers are removed, what the tiny worm-like creatures look like, and what constitutes a “more severe case.”

Today, we got a front row seat to the beauty that came from the ashes of those formerly infected feet.  Today some of these courageous and tough people went home to anxiously awaiting family members.  We were blessed and got to go along for the ride - and boy was it a ride!  

They call it "resettlement".

This is how SH takes notes upon admission.  This was the
"before" chart for one special pre-teen girl.

 
  
This little girl is Chelsea's age and they spent three days together this week.  SO CUTE!  Chelsea got to be with her as she returned home this afternoon to a family who had obviously missed her very much.  Her family was over-joyed, to say the least!

 This is her family - excited to see her healed and home!



The scene at each home we stopped at was the same - joyful excitement.  What was once a painful inconvenience at best and a death sentence at worst had been completely healed!  Only God....

As you can see, each person treated at SH gets supplies to go home with.  Care-takers and social workers come along for the ride home because they educate family members - and any neighbors who show up for the surprise homecoming - on how to prevent infection in the future.  You see, jiggers are preventable.  It's just that when one lives in poverty, away from towns and facilities, the ability to perform simple hygiene isn't so simple, and it's not a priority; food, water and shelter takes precedence.

We drove for over 6 hours today - on a 30 passenger rickety bus - through the hills and villages of RURAL Uganda.  We were, literally, in the middle of NOWHERE most of the day.  And this is where SH goes every week - to the middle of nowhere to let those suffering from jiggers know that they are not forgotten.



Yes....this...happened....and then the storm moved in...and, thankfully, away from us.


The other amazing thing I didn't blog about yesterday was that we hung out with a missionary family here in Uganda.  They've been here for a few years, and are going through a lot of things most people couldn't possibly understand - unless they lived here too. 

And so we had a feet washing ceremony and time of prayer for them - after dinner and play-time, of course.  This precious family reminded me yet again how important it is to care for, pray for and serve those who are "in it"; those who have taken up their cross and sold everything to do what very, very, very few are willing to learn about, much less DO.  It was beautiful, and they deserved it!

I'm not posting pics of this event because it was sacred...and special...and just for them. 

Have you prayed for a missionary today?



 

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