1 week 6 days till home time!

This time, in 1 week and 6 days I will be near approaching Kigali to start my long long journey home. This time in 2 weeks, I will (hopefully) be back at home with my Papa preparing for the mother of all BBQ's. It is strange to think that England has actually moved on time wise, I still imagine it to be cold February (apparently it will be a cold July instead!) In some ways, I can not believe that is has been 6 months, but in other ways it has seemed like 6 years. I will certainly miss my babies very much, especially ones like Grunt and Squeak.

Last weekend I was honoured to be the only adult officially invited to Hannah's 11^th (very early) birthday party. Jenny and I set a treasure hunt that we thought would keep them busy for at least an hour, but actually they completed it in 10 mins! The girls didn't mind though as they happily started a game with Hannah's dolls. Her birthday is actually in September but she will be away at her first term of her new boarding school, so Jenny decided to have a joint birthday party and farewell Hannah party. Malcolm and Irene (a British couple who work for the diocese) and their son and daughter in-law, David and Sarah (who are the new volunteers at Potter's) came for tea and birthday cake in the afternoon.

There has been a bit of bad news here at Potter's when Milo and Otis the puppies both caught tick fever. Otis, was in the early stages and wasn't too ill and is a lot better now, but Milo was really sick and died. It was very sad to see my puppy suffering and the Ugandan workers did not understand why we were crying over a dog (dogs are treated very badly by the locals and often stoned to death.) Otis is doing well though, If there is such thing as puppy ADHD, Otis has it and runs around the compound all day!

We are currently waiting on the results of HIV tests for 3 of our babies. Baby L, A and J are all not putting on weight and becoming increasing weaker. Hopefully the results will be available soon.

Last week we held the pre-test for some applicants who want to work at Potter's Village and yesterday we had the interviews. Unfortunately, I don't think there were very many who shone brightly. I am not an expert at interviews, but some of the questions (and answers) really surprised me! “Do your family agree for you to work here?” “Where will your children go when you are working?” Candidates were also marked down if their skirt or dress was not longer than knee length, and if their shirts were slightly too low!

Next Friday I will be visiting the child that my family sponsor through Compassion. His name is Gilbert and lives just a few minute drive from Potter's Village. Mum has posted me a school bag full of goodies for him, and I have bought a traditional basket (that they carry on their heads) and filled it with things like sugar, salt, rice, groundnut, beans and soap. On Thursday, I will be going to the dreaded market to buy a chicken or 2 for his family! I was going to buy a goat, but the price of everything is going up so dramatically here, I cant even afford one. I am really excited!

Sarah and I did try to walk whilst balancing a basket on our heads, but I think we have different shaped heads to them because I could only manage 7 steps without hands! They later challenged us to balancing a basket whilst carrying a baby – impossible!

For the first time in a long time we do not have an sick babies!! Squeak is recovering from an unknown illness but doing a lot better. We did have a mumps scare last week but we have seen no more children with the symptoms.

Nearly lunch time – beans and cabbage oh how I will miss you...

The baby-basket challenge

Baby F

Hannah and her cake

Squeakie

Little baby no-name 2!

Jenny has returned from a successful fundraising trip in the UK and it is such a relieve to know that she is around if anything goes wrong!
Today (whilst i was battling with the bed sheets on the shelf bed) 2 men arrived with a little girl wanting us to admit her. She is 2 days old and weighs 2.5kg. Her mother died during child birth along with the little girl's twin. The father and mother had been trying to have a baby for 8 years and were so happy to find out they were having twins, but now the father has lost his wive and his baby.They had all the correct paperwork, but the problem this time was the overcrowding at Potter's. With the 2 new babies last week, the baby room was at its full capacity. Ezra told the uncles there was nothing we could do for them, but Jenny and I knew that if this baby is turned away she will certainly die. Some strings have been pulled and 2 of our older abandoned babies who have no family connection to Kisoro will be moved to a wonderful new babies home. The uncles were so happy to hear that their baby would not be transferred to Kampala and that we were able to take her. I have offered to look after her until the overcrowding problem has been solved - so she is now sleeping on Ruth's old bed (sorry Ruth!) and having 3 hourly feeds. A sleepless night is ahead of me, but i don't care because she is soo cute! The father was busy burying his wife and daughter today and couldn't bring his surviving twin himself, so she currently is little baby no-name 2 (aka Squidge)
On Friday the 2 new volunteers arrived. Sarah and David are staying at Potter's Village for 3 months. It is so nice to have some more white faces around as being the odd one out can get a little tiresome. They are great and really good with the children (even the toddlers who usually take weeks to adjust to new white faces!)
I actually have not a clue what the weather is playing at here! It is meant to be the dry season, but yesterday we had torrential rain and hail stones for nearly 3 hours!
The 2 new babies, Baby M and Baby D have settled into Potter's life really quickly. They have both put on at least 300g in one week, soon their 2 week isolation will be up and they will be able to join the other babies.
38 days till home time!

'Dry' Season!

Squidge

Shopping, Sun and Babies

Another interesting week in Kisoro! At the beginning of the week Ruth and I were both really sick, whether it was a illness from the babies or food poisoning we did not know, but we felt pretty rotten. After recovering for a few days, we then proceeded to start tidying and Ruth, packing. On the Tuesday morning after a short staff meeting we set off for the Rwandan border where the taxi driver was waiting for us. As a person who is pretty rubbish with goodbyes, I was kind of dreading this one! Ruth is now back in the UK and settling back into the English way of life (strawberries and tennis!) It would be ungrateful of me to say that I am slightly jealous, but the past 4 months have been the most mentally exhausting of my life so I am really looking forward to giving Ma and Pa a hug!

I have been trying to keep busy this week, and have re-tided the store room/new medical center room! I am not sure how it go so messy in just a few months, but getting through the door was a job in its self. Ezra and I have also been preparing for the new volunteers who are arriving next Thursday. He took me shopping (actually, I took him shopping, as I know more shops than he does and he has lived here for a bazillion years!) and I was allowed to choose the colour of all kitchen equipment and buckets. I read that sentence back and I realise how boring I have become, but any shopping is shopping.

On Friday afternoon, I left to pick up Hannah and Jojo from school. When we arrived back at their house I had a panicky phone call from Ezra. Apparently 2 new babies had turned up without any notice at all and needed to be admitted. So I ran down the hill, ignoring all the “Mzungooo how areee youuu” to find two little boys and no nurse. I bought them into the nurses office and did the immediate examination. Baby D is aprox. 6 weeks old and was found abandoned at the hospital in Kabale. His temperature, weight, respiration and hydration was fine so I was happy that he was healthy. Baby M is 11 days old and his mother died after the nurses at the hospital forgot to look after her. His temperature was slightly raised, his respiration was fast and he was coughing. I listened to his chest and realised he had a chest infection, probably just due to negligence. They are both in the initial 2 week isolation stage and doing doing really well.

Toddler J leaves Potter's tomorrow to go back home with his dad. Next week Toddler A will be leaving and the week after Toddler J will leave too! It is bitter sweet to see them leave because you know being with their families is the best thing for them but when you have grown attached... it proves more difficult to say goodbye!

I am slightly gutted to hear the weather in England is back to normal, seems like I have missed the summer! It has 46 days to sort its self out and get hot again for when I am home!

Baby D

Gad and I

With Jenny back in the UK fundraising for Potter's Village, and Ezra in Mbarara with Grunt and Jackson, Ruth and I have been left in charge of the whole of Potter's Village. Of course the children know when the bosses have gone and decided to all get sick at the same time! We know have 3 isolation rooms, 1 for pneumonia, 1 for vomiting and diarrhea and 1 for fragile babies who must not be exposed to any illnesses.
We have a new arrival who was supported by PV in the community but had not been cared for properly. Baby K is 4 months old and weighs only 3.5kg (8lbs). Her mother became mentally ill after giving birth to her and threatens to kill Baby K whenever she sees her. The grandmother had been caring for her, but did not understand how to bottle feed. She was so starved that her hair is a shade of red. For the first 24 hours after being admitted to Potter's, Baby K screamed and screamed. Even feeding her didn’t calm her down because as soon as she had finished she panicked that she would not receive another one for a long time. The next morning we went to see her in isolation and we were so shocked at what we found. She has become the happiest baby ever! (Although slightly creepy looking with her huge eyes!)

Baby K

Grunt and Big J have been on a trip to Mbarara to visit the specialist about their cerebral palsy. J will be returning in a months time for a weeks intensive physiotherapy. Grunt has had some very good news, his hydrocephalus has improved and he is now out of the danger zone. He is still fitting, but not as often and as soon as you talk to him or touch him he laughs and laughs. Last week we took 5 children (2 from PV, 2 who used to live at PV and 1 from a village near by) to brand new children’s home. We drove for 9 hours on roads without tarmac with 5 vomiting children to SOS children’s home. The home can look after up to 120 children between the ages of 0 and 18. Each child lives in a house that has 10 children, 1 'mumma' and 1 auntie. The houses are amazingly equipped with washing machines, fridges and cookers. The mumma lives at the project for 6 1/2 days a week, and is allowed to decorate her house as she pleases so it is just like a real family! It was so sad to say goodbye to P as he had grown very attached to me and me to him, but the place was amazing so I know it is where he will have the best chance at life.


P and Ellie

Baby D is the smallest baby here at the moment, when he was in the incubator he weighed 1.7kg but lost 200g whilst in the hospital. He is now growing well but gets cold very quickly. With the outbreak of vomiting and diarrhea we have isolated him in the hope he does not catch any illness that could risk his life.

Baby D

Ruth is going home on Tuesday, which will be very sad to say goodbye as she has been the person that has kept me (kind of) sane here in Kisoro. But when Jenny returns after her 3 week fundraising trip in the UK, 2 more volunteers will arrive so hopefully they will be nice!

Puppies ate my pants.

Last Saturday we sent hours and hours washing all our clothes because we knew that we would need enough clothes to last us all week. It is very offensive to hang out any socks or knickers where people can see them, so we have a little washing line that hangs just below our fence. On Saturday we also found out that the puppies have learnt to jump. A low washing line + jumping puppies = 2 pairs of eaten knickers. Wonderful.

Our trip to Kigali was.. Interesting! As we were crossing the border into Rwanda we had a number of marriage proposals from the border officials. Unfortunately, I was left alone to sort out the car insurance and the border official decided that we were definitely going to get married. Thankfully, Jenny, Ruth and Hannah arrived just at the right time just as he was telling me to “get in the hut” with him. Whilst we were in the city, we went to the supermarket 6 times in 2 days. Mainly because it was so amazing to walk down aisles and see exotic things like hair conditioner, couscous and brown bread. Whilst we were not in the supermarket, we were sitting the the coffee shop next to the supermarket, reading Ugandan newspapers (I searched and searched for Glamour and Vogue magazine, but no luck..)

On Thursday we traveled to Lake Binyonyi near Kabale for another 2 day holiday. We arrived at the lake and caught a boat out to an Island where we were shown to our cottage. The cottage didn't have running water or electricity, but compared to our mouldy little house back at Potter's Village it was luxury! Even the long drop had a seat... amazing! I was even more excited about swimming in the lake than Jojo – and that is saying something!

The weekend was spent packing up all out belongings in preparation for moving down the the house parents house. Our house was so mouldy even the concrete floor had mould growing out of it! We are now all moved in to the new house and Ruth and I don't really know what to do with ourselves! We have an indoor kitchen and toilet, tiled floors, and a wardrobe! We have just finished decorating our walls with photos and cards. Half of the wall in the living room is covered with letters from the Sunday School children back at home (Thanks Lynn!)

Today, Jenny phoned us in the morning to say that a premature baby was ready to come out of the hospital and that we needed to go and fetch him. Baby D's mum died from typhoid, and baby D weighed only 1.7kg when he was born 2 weeks ago. He hadn't put on any weight and on the journey home I realized that he was very cold. We arrived at Potters Village, when his temperature was 33.3 degrees. We fed him and tried piling on blankets, but he still didn't seem to get any warmer. So for the rest of the afternoon I had a hypothermic, hypoglycemic, 3lb baby down my top with 10 other blankets wrapped round us! I was absolutely boiling with all the wrapped round me and a little body strapped to my chest, but it is what the little boy needed and his temperature soon started to rise. He is now up at Jenny's but hopefully she will bring him down again tomorrow so that I can look after him!

Baby N'S

Toddler J

Easter in Uganda

The past few weeks have been slightly boring and uneventful here in Kisoro. Life is slowly moving on after the death of little Moses. I am making plans to create a notice board for photos of every child who Potter's Village have supported, saved or lost.

With no commercial build up to Easter it felt very odd indeed. Ruth and I were invited to breakfast at a German couple's house before church. The breakfast was an absolute feast! Sweet bread freshly baked that morning, cheese, chocolate spread, jams, eggs. A real treat compared to the norm of dry bread and a banana. The church service was a slight mess compared to the rehearsed and smooth church services in England. For starters, none of the church leaders had a clue what any one else was doing, the preacher decided to talk for an hour and the music... Well... Lets just say that the music is interesting. The keyboard guy runs his fingers down all the notes half way through a quiet hymn because he only knows about 4 notes on the piano. (he also thinks that leather trousers and waistcoat is a good look, but I wont go into the Ugandan's idea of style..) When I found out that the family back in England were going to be eating roast lamb, I was not the slightest bit jealous because Jenny had cooked my favorite food in the whole wide world – Lasagne! Along with an apple and tree tomato pie and then for the second pudding (yes, 2 puddings!) a huge chocolate cake.  An interesting alternative to the Easter I am used to, but the lasagne made it worth it.

 On Sunday, Jenny was  made a Cannon. She organised a big party back at Potters Village to celebrate and invited 150 people. There was enough beans and cabbage to feed everyone! It was a really nice day and we totally enjoyed dressing up (very casual compared to dressing up in England!)

Little baby D (aka Little Baby No-Name!) has moved down to Potter's this week as he is growing quickly and doing really well. This means that Jenny has got no little babies up at her house for the first time since the beginning of this year.

Another new baby has arrived at Potter's. Baby A was 9 months old and was in foster care in the community, but after a recent health check we realized that he weighed only 6kg! We admitted him to Potter's for 3 months until he puts of lots of weight. Even after just 1 week with food and warmth he has learnt to sit up! He is such a sweet little boy, and wouldn't mind bringing him home with me!

Grunt and Squeak are becoming happy little boys. They are both in the same cot and they can just gaze at each other and smile for hours. Grunts fits have not become any less frequent and after a visit to an American paediatrician from Rwanda we have been told his future doesn't look very bright. Unfortunately, people here do not understand brain damage and disabilities. They are often made outcasts because people are scared and don't understand why they are like it. Witchcraft and black magic are so close to the surface here that people also usually think that those with disabilities are cursed.

In fact, there has been a little bit of drama with the twins family. Some of the baby carers had noticed that after their family come to visit, Grunt and Squeak become very agitated and have sleepless nights. The baby carers expressed their concern about how they think that the family might be giving the babies herbal medicines during their visits (the herbal medicines are often linked with witchcraft) so it was decided that their visits would be strictly supervised. The grandmother denied ever giving them anything, but one of the sisters (who probably is only 10 years old) was spotted throwing a little packet of herbs into the disposable nappy pit. It is really worrying that the boys might have a family involved in witchcraft...

Ruth and I are preparing for a little holiday for a few days. We were meant to be going with Jenny and Hannah to Kenya so that Hannah can have her entrance exam to an amazing boarding school but with the rioting in Kampala and Mbale, Jenny decided it would be safer to fly from Kigale direct to Nairobi than drive through all the danger zones. Unfortunately, Ruth and I cannot afford the flight but we are traveling to Kigale with Jenny and Hannah and are going to stay in a hotel for a few nights and then travel home with them when they return from Kenya. Just a few days luxury is needed!

The fact that we are renewing our 3 month visa this weekend is a scary thought! 3 months down, 3 to go..

Little Baby No-Name aka David

Baby A



Squeak!



Baby Moses - 10.4.2011

We have hit the 2 month marker here in Uganda. 2 months ago last Thursday, I said goodbye to my family, friends, king size bed and everything vaguely normal. You would think that reaching this marker would be a cause for celebration, celebrating the fact that I am still alive despite the bugs, the toilets, the lack of electricity, water, and hair product. But this week none of us have felt like celebrating at all, in fact, I think it has been the hardest week of my life.

Last Sunday morning at 6am I received a phone call from one of the baby carers saying that one of the babies was dying. We sprinted down to the medical center in our pyjamas and met Jenny who arrived a few seconds after us. We then found Baby M lifeless in the baby carers arms. There was nothing more we could do for him and he died soon after. This was the same Baby M who we took to the hospital the day before he died to discover he had a hole in his heart. I helplessly watched a baby that I love very much die, and that is not something you can get over very quickly.

Moses died on the 10.4.2011 aged 9 months.

The rest of the week has been a bit of a blur to be honest. Although I have been busy a lot of the time, I can not remember anything of what I have done. What I do know is that he is not suffering anymore and he received so much love here at Potter's.

Babies, Puppies and Piglets. Life is good.

Ever since I was really small I have always wanted my very own puppy and my very own piglet. It was this week when I finally got what I have spent years begging my parents for! Much to my excitement P.V puppies, Milo and Otis arrived on Friday and I have been put in charge of training them up to be guard dogs that know the difference between Baby and Baddie. They are still pretty tiny and all they want to do is play, eat my sandals and follow me round the compound (which is fine with me!) As for the Piglet, Jenny mentioned that her  pig is pregnant and should have babies in a couple of months – very excited!

 This week has been a strange one. Ruth, Jenny and Eve took Grunt to Mbara (a good days drive away) to see a specialist about his head and his fitting. I stayed back in Kisoro to look after H and J and Potters Village whilst Jenny was away for a few days. Thankfully the news about Grunt is more positive than we had thought. His head has shrunk by a few centimeters and the Doctor is happy that he doesn't need an operation at the moment. He is still very spastic and fitting quite a lot but we will take him back to the hospital in June for a check-up. He is still living up at Jenny's house but early next week is moving down to P.V so that him and Squeak are not separated for too long.

Another poorly baby has been diagnosed with a serious disorder. Baby M is nearly 10 months but he is the size of a 2 month old baby. He also has congenital cataracts, very irregular breathing and we are very sure he has more problems that are unknown to us at the moment. The fact that Baby M was on high energy food and eating well but not putting on any weight or growing was really worrying us. It wasn't until late last night when we were called out to a very distressed little boy, due to a vomiting virus that is going round, when Jenny instincts told her that something wasn't right with his heart beat. We took him to the clinic this morning and the Doctor confirmed our fears that he has hole in his heart. In England this is a problem that can be fixed without too much of a problem, but in rural Uganda this is a very serious issue. We are organizing to drive to Kampala (10 hours away) to take him to a heart specialist within the next few weeks for their opinion. Then if they tell us that an operation will fix the problem Baby M will hopefully travel to either England or South Africa for the surgery so that he has the best chance of survival.s

Today I attempted to go shopping for a new dress, but shopping in Cheltenham seems a different world. There is no such thing as a relaxing shopping trip here in Kisoro as you constantly have to dodge the bikes with chickens/beds/bananas/other bikes/water containers tied to the backs. Children are forever following you shouting “Mzungo! Howa-yooooo?” or “Mzungo! Give-me-my-money!”. Men sit and stare, and every few minutes one is brave enough to shout “Eyyy Mzungo!” and apparently hissing is a sign of endearment. You also have to constantly watch where you are putting your feet because if it is not a giant pot hole that trips you up, it is a goat, a chicken or a begging family. Anyway, after battling my way through the craziness of the main street I reached one of the very few shops that sell anything vaguely different to bananas, to find it was closed because the owner wanted a long lunch, so I returned home empty handed and exhausted.

Tonight, another crazy Saturday night in 'Green Cottage' – Lasagne, then washing up, then a book, then bed. The life of a normal 19 year old?

Attack of the bugs.

For some reason, our house has been targeted by every single bug in Africa. We have had millipedes, grasshoppers and moths in the shower, spiders under the bed, fruit flies have invaded the kitchen and slugs seem to congregate on the door handles. They must have some kind of sense that tells them where screamish girls live!

Apart from the odd heart attack when a sausage fly flies at your face (they are the worst!) the past couple of  weeks have been wonderfully uneventful. All the dramas that happen here usually involve critically ill babies, so quiet weeks are always welcome. The electricity and water have been very good this week but the Internet connection, however, has been awful (hence the late posting of this)

Ruth and I have spent the past 2 weeks teaching H (Jenny's daughter) as she prepares for the 11+ exam that will determine if she has got into an amazing boarding school in Kenya. She has been taken out of some classes and now only goes to school for half days so that we have time to get through all of the revision material she has been given. It is a challenge but she is doing really well when she wants to! H has to travel to Kenya in May to take her exam, and Jenny has invited Ruth and I to go with them. We are really looking forward to it!

As for an update on Little Baby No-Name. We went to Matolere Hospital on Thursday, to see how he was doing. When we arrived we were shown to the warm nursery where he and 5 other babies and their parents had been living, which is only the size of a cupboard. One of ladies was in the room because she has recently had twins, and she took it upon herself to feed not only her twins but baby No-Name too! Nobody had asked her to do this, she just knew that if she didn't feed him, no one would. I could have hugged her, but seeing as she was preparing to breast feed her twins, there could have been a very awkward accidental boob graze, so I saved us both the embarrassment and left it. Anyway, No-Name is doing amazingly well thanks to this mum, and we might even have enough room at p.v for him when he is well enough!

More very exciting news – we have a washing machine!! We have been happily washing our clothes by hand for nearly 2 months and today we were told a washing machine has been installed in the store next door to our house. It is so great to not have to leave half a day free just so we can wash our clothes!

Grunt is off to be examined by a pediatric doctor on Tuesday, we are waiting to hear if he is okay to have an operation to relieve the pressure. He is still having fits, but is growing very fast! Squeak is doing amazingly well, I make sure I give him a daily cuddle which usually lasts longer than expected because he is just so so so cute.

2 little babies J and M were admitted to Afya clinic yesterday because they have caught pneumonia. N, N and J are all in isolation due to chest infections. School Boy P, has been diagnosed with malaria again. Third time in 2 months! Although he has malaria he still thinks that burping in my face is hysterically funny and has decided that greeting me with a huge sloppy kiss on the cheek is hygienic.

Jojo has his 5^th birthday on Sunday, and Eve's 20^th on Monday so this weekend is booked up with children's parties, cake baking and meals out. Life is fine here in Kisoro.



Me and P



Crazy mountain children



Little baby no-name

There is never a dull hour here in Kisoro (apart from the few hours week when you wonder why on earth no one has ever though of building a cinema or bowling alley in rural Africa)

The week started with 12 children being put into isolation due to flu. For some of the smaller and sick-prone children, this turned into Pneumonia. For Baby A, this is frequent occurrence because he has chronic lung disease (it is so sad to see him poorly because he is quite possibly the cutest kid ever) Over a few days, more beds were moved from bedrooms into isolation until we had all of the crawlers and toddlers with temperatures, coughs and snotty noses. On the Tuesday night, Jenny had prepared us that in the morning she was expecting to have to take some children to the hospital because their Pneumonia was getting serious, but when the morning came every single child was recovering well! It was fantastic news, and now a week on, we only have 3 children still in isolation.

Wednesday, was the toughest and most emotional day that I have had here. Jenny had told us in the morning that a little baby had been abandoned by his mother at Kisoro Hospital a few days after his birth, but because we have babies coming out of our ears, Ezra felt that we could not take on another little one. We were told that he was a premature, but healthy baby who was maintaining his temperature well and feeding from a bottle. If P.V said no to this little boy, then he would have no future because he would certainly die because he had no one. Certain death was not good enough for Jenny, Ruth and I, so I spent hours researching other baby homes in Uganda that we could transfer him to. Finally I found Sanyu Babies Home. We phoned Sanyu and they agreed that when the baby was fit enough to travel the 10 hours to Kampala that they would take him. This was great news – until little baby no-name arrived…

Jenny had gone home and left us the paperwork, equipment and a quick briefing so that we could admit the baby without her. They arrived at 6:30pm and as soon as we saw his little head we knew there was a problem. He was TINY. The smallest baby I have ever seen. He had a nasal feeding tube and  was naked, wrapped in a thin cotton sheet (You may think Africa is hot, but the rainy season definitely isn’t.) I went to weigh him, but he was freezing. My first panic was that he hadn’t survived the journey from the hospital to Potters. Jenny rushed down and took us to Kisoro hospital where we were sent away again because they didn't have an incubator, so we trekked to Matolere Hospital. When we arrived a nurse told us that they had no power so the incubator  wasn't working. It was very obvious that they didn't want to take little baby no-name, so when I was told to  hand him over, walk away and not to look back – I just fell apart. Even though I knew he wouldn't survive without the incubator, it broke my heart to leave him.

Some happier news – Squeak is so much better, eating a tonne, and has moved down to P.V! He is growing into his skin now and is starting to look more and more like his beautiful brother. However, his beautiful brother is looking less like his beautiful self. His head has swollen and looks like one of those aliens that you get at the fairground. He has been diagnosed with water on the brain, and his fitting has become worse. We are waiting to see if he can have an operation in April to relieve the pressure.

On Saturday, we were taken up a cultivated volcano. We were followed up by about 12 children (only a few of them had shoes) who I soon made friends with when I challenged them to a race up the volcano. It was a really nice walk, although the weather was pretty English!

Water and electricity have been very... unreliable this week, and internet connection have been awful (hence th late posting of this blog) Hopefully, our water will be back on tonight so we can actually shower insted of bucket bathing in rain water. Yes, it was awful.

I'm not black but i will be soon!

Phew.. its Saturday! I have been African for a month now. The weeks seem to be getting more and more hectic as time goes on!
I live in S.W Uganda and i am wearing thermals to bed - this isn't what i signed up for! The 'raining season' is living up to its name, but today is beautifully sunny! Shame sunbathing is an utter insult to everybody!
On Tuesday, Pius was taken to hospital with malaria. After checking his mosquito net we discovered that he had been picking at the net and had made all the holes pretty big! The net has been stitched up now, and he is recovering well. I say he is recovering, but even when he was at his worst with a temperature of 39 degrees, he was still giggling, burping and blowing kisses. In fact, as i speak he is 'helping' to wash Jenny's car. (this involves tipping buckets of washer over his head and then rolling over the car...) He is a real fighter! He is the oldest child at P.V, but his mum is a prostitute in Kisoro and has disowned and wished death upon him. Hopefully we will find him a nice foster home soon.
The twins have had a really rough week too. It got to the point that whenever i went up to Jenny's to look after them i just got so upset about it all and couldn't bare to see them like it. At the beginning of the week, Squeak had a really bad fever. In any child here, it can be dangerous, but in a 10 day old twin who weighs only a few lbs and lost a lot of blood in the birth process - it was really serious. I went with Jenny and Squeak to the clinic to get his bloods checked, and his blood count was good and there he didn't have malaria. This was good and bad news. Good because we knew that it wasn't any of those, and bad because we still didn't know what was causing the fever. It has sorted it self out now, and he has battled through it all.
Grunt on the other hand is still not doing well. Jenny has has suspicions for a while that he may be brain damaged from the horrid birth, and her suspicions were pretty much confirmed when they noticed that Grunt had been having fits. He is now fitted up with a nasal feeding tube and is on some drug that i can't pronounce to try and calm the fitting.
With the administrator leaving last minute to attend a funeral in Kenya, Ruth and I have been left in charge. Thankfully Ruth is amazing at paperwork and is very organized (i am the very opposite) and has taken over the role of administrator. I spent the whole of Yesterday writing and designing new forms and contracts for volunteers who decided to come to Kisoro - Yes, Dad - you better believe it, i have been doing paperwork willingly!! I have been dealing with the more hands on work that needs to be done - sorting out medicines, doing rounds of the centre checking the kids health, carrying on with the physio and dealing with the baby carers (it can be a huge job in its self!)
I helped the toddler carers do the toddler walk the other day. It was quite a long way for all their little legs but i guess they have to man up and deal with it because the other children their age are walking miles! We walked out of town into the hills where all the farming is done. I made 5 local farmers children cry and run away in 2 hours. I am strangely proud of my achievement.. Is it coz I'm white?!
Today is Saturday, and I was planning on cleaning the whole of our house as it was getting a bit grubby. This didn't work out exactly to plan because Jenny mentioned that the incubator and oxygen were on their way down from Kampala and should arrive by this evening. I have never seen her so excited! All morning we have been preparing the Special Care Baby Unit by scrubbing floors, walls, ceilings and organizing the furniture that will be put in. All we need now, is a nurse to put into the nurses office! Hopefully we will organize interviews this week, and who knows, maybe Jenny will actually have a day off for once!
Little Jojo and I are planning on flying his kite in the field this afternoon. Not sure how long it will last because his attention span is as big as mine, but we always think of something to play when we get bored of kites!

It may sound quite negative, and although some days a pretty tough i am still enjoying my time out here. But i would kill for a lasagne.. I plan on taking the afternoon off to buy bananas, lemons and pineapples and maybe even treat myself to a lunch at the cafe. Life's good.

                                                           Squeak

Hospitals, New arrivals, and Rainy Season!

What a week we have had here in Kisoro!

Last weekend, we were all rushed off our feet with lots of babies in isolation. Baby J was dangerously dehydrated after catching a bug and had to be fed through a tube. Baby A was rushed to hospital with pneumonia, he catches it so easily after been diagnosed with Chronic Lung Disease. Other Baby J and Baby B both had unexplained fevers. We were rushed off out feet trying to sort out medication, determine which thermometers were reliable and make new rotas, whilst not forgetting all the other children here at P.V. Thankfully they are all better and back with the other babies and now we only have Baby G in isolation.

On Wednesday, Ezra received a call saying that a father was going to bring in 2 day old twin boys. Their mother had died the previous day, not due to a difficult child birth just because the doctor forgot the deliver the placenta and she had bled to death later on in the day. The father of the family works in the city of Kampala (10 hours away) but his family lives here in the hills of Kisoro. He has 5 other children all under the age of 10. It made me so angry to hear how the mother had died, and if more attention had been paid 7 children would have a mumma still. The family were so sad to part with their babies, but it is the best place for them to be at this moment in time.

I have spent the past few days up at Jenny's house, looking after the twins and premature Baby E . The twins, who we call Squeak (the eldest but smallest) and Grunt (the youngest but biggest) are now 5 days old. Squeak was only 1.5kg when he was born but now he is 1.7kg. Looking after 3 very hungry babies on my own is pretty hard work (if you have triplets or twins, you have my respect!) but we are now getting into a routine which has made things easier. I actually love these 2 boys, and want to keep them forever and ever! Baby E however, is a monster.

Thanks to the beginning of the rainy season, the electicity has been very unreliable. Thank goodness for a laptop with long battery life! Yesterday we didn't have power for over 24 hours. My candle lit dinner would have been very romantic if i was with a handsome young man, but it was with Ruth so it didn't have the same affect...! Not complaining though, the rain and thunder storms are amazing, sometimes even bigger and louder than the ones in  Italy last year.

Today, I have spent the morning hand washing all my clothes, towels and bed sheets and scrubbing the kitchen floor (i have blisters to prove it!) As a reward, Ruth and I had lunch at the Coffee Pot Cafe, where i had an amazing tuna sandwich and a pot of English tea. Altogether this cost me 6000 shillings (just over 1 pound!)

Cadburys chocolate costs 2000 shillings (about 50p) but with 2000 shillings you could buy a bunch of carrots, a bag of tomatoes, a pineapple, a huge bag of potatoes and 5 green peppers!

Hopefully this coming week will be less manic, but i am looking forward to looking after Squeak and Grunt again :)

Grunt!

First Week Gone!

I have been officially African for one week! It has been an interesting week - trying to get settled in, understand the routine (not that there is one!) and getting used to this way of living. Unfortunately, it seems like rainy season has come early...
This weekend, there was a big wedding in the catheral next door that we were all invited to, but after a night of being sick and fainting every 30 seconds i decided to give it a miss! The visiting doctors were not worried though, they said the change in altitude does that to most people in the first few days (also, the previous day i was having too much fun and worked too much and drank too little!) I am much better now!
My last few days, i have started a little routine. I have been put in charge of doing the physio with some of the little ones who are not doing so well. Baby M is 8 months, and is the size of a 2 month old but doesn't even have the ability of a 2 month old. He can not hold up is head yet, and is worrying all of us here! For Baby M, we are focusing on getting his neck stronger. Little J is nearly 3 and has cerebral palsy. He is very weak, and has been babied all his life so he has hardly any strength. Baby P is deaf and blind in one eye. The baby carers don't seem to understand that he cant hear. So i have researched little exercises i can do with them to build their core muscles, and maybe in a few weeks we might see improvements.
Baby J was taken to hospital on Saturday with a fever, and suspected malaria. Thankfully, her blood test cam back negative for malaria and she is a lot better now. Apart from the fact she vomited milk all over my dress this morning... I think children know when you are wearing clean clothes!
Yesterday, Ezra took me out in the truck to see the countryside (and also to pick up some potatoes). When he told me we were going to get potatoes, i imagined one of those bags you can get a the green grocers. I was slightly surprised when we filled the whole of the pick up truck with potatoes - 400kg!!
Staff meeting was interesting this morning, all the Muzungos had to sit on the benches and all the black people had to sit of the floor?! White people means authority in their culture, which the idea is going to take some getting used to (as much as i like bossing people around! I would prefer to be on the same level as them) Their Worship is cool though, loads of different harmonies and although their notes are not all perfect it sounds amazing!
This afternoon, Ruth and I feel a little bit useless. Jenny has gone home with a head ache and Ezra is taking a long lunch so we are not really sure what we are meant to be doing because all the babies are sleeping, the clothes have been washed, the food have been cooked, and the floors have been swept! Apparently 3pm is home time, except for our amazing builders who have been working at 7:30am (yawn) and finishing at 6pm, 6 days a week just so that we get a little fence and garden in front of our house!
Today's lunch was good! The past 7 days the kitchen staff have cooked exactly the same thing (no exaggeration) - rice, carrot, beans and cabbage. It is good, but slightly boring! But today we had sweet potatoes, gnut sauce and cabbage. If only they learn how to cook Lasagne for 100 people!
Well, i think i have covered all the vaguely exciting stuff... Still surviving!

ps. You can get pringles in the 'supermarket'. Seriously, this made my day when i found this out!

We have arrived!

We arrived safe and sound in Kisoro on Tuesday afternoon after a long and exhausting journey! The flights were... cramped (apparently Ethiopian air only cater for people who's legs are about 10" long, so my 34" legs were slightly twisted!) Our taxi man, Jean-Marie picked us up form Kigali airport where we started our 3 hour drive through the Rwandan mountains (A-maze-ing.) Ezra (the main man at potters village) met us at the Ugandan border, and brought us to Kisoro.
Me and Ruth, the other volunteer who i travelled with, are the first to stay in the visitor accommodation that they have just built. We are very lucky to have a small kitchen, a shower, warm water, comfy beds, and some luxuries that you can get here that i was not expecting like digestive biscuits! Our "toilet" on the other hand, will take some getting used to!!
The babies here are adorable. I have only been here 2 days and i have already changed loads of cloth nappies, bathed a kazillion babies, and given lots of hugs to the poorly ones. Baby A is possibly my fav at the moment, she is cheeky and a trouble maker but loving life. She has only just come out 2 week isolation after being very poorly with pneumonia. Baby E is living up at Jenny's house because she was born premature and is still very tiny, but she is gaining weight fast and doing really well which is amazing. Hopefully she will be down at P.V soon. Although the toddlers have had an amazing adventure playground built for them, they don't seem too interested with it at them moment. The carers never had toys and playgrounds when they were growing up so they find it hard to encourage the little ones to play. I am hoping to find ways to get the carers engaging with the games too...!
Right.... I have lost my train of thought... The office is right next to the isolation room and Baby J was screaming so i have to change her nappy, and put her back to bed because none of the night staff could hear her (which must be kinda hard because she can scream, that's for sure)
Today, we went into town. We went for lunch at a little cafe run by a German lady and ate beef stew and chips?! I thought i was going to be eating cabbage for the next 6 months! Eve, Jenny's house girl, then showed me and Ruth round town, and then took us to the market. In the market, all the ladies would lift up their children so they could see the Muzungo's (White people) and all you could here was "how are you Muzungo! Muzungo Muzungo!" They also think is cool to price things 10 times as much as they should be just because we are white! thank goodness for Eve.... The weather is great, hot but not too hot, and then in the afternoon we get a huge thunderstorm which cools everything down for the evenings. 
Come on Baby J, please go back to sleep!
Elections are tomorrow... pray for peace! Jenny says Kisoro is a safe place, so even if there is trouble in Entebbe, she says she doesn't think it will reach here. Hopefully not another Eygpt situation!
Back at home this evening, Ruth and I cooked a healthy meal of marmite on toast.
I Love Africa!
Ciao

ps. Will post photos when i remember to bring my camera to the office!

16 days to go!

Only 16 days till i leave England and head for Uganda! Although my bags are nearly packed and my flights booked, it is still pretty surreal that in a few weeks i will be living on the equator. My flight leaves on the evening of 14th of February, changing in Addis Ababa, and arriving in Rwanda midday on the 15th February. I then have to travel about 3 hours over the Ugandan border to Kisoro, where I'll be based for 6 months.
Fundraising for my trip has gone so well. I feel so blessed to have such an amazing family and great friends who have supported me in so many different ways. Apologies to mamma and pappa B for having to put up with me (I would rather empty the compost bin than do any paper work, and that is saying something!)
I  know it is not going to be easy, because i am pretty sure i will see death in a new light and knowing this makes things a little more nerve racking, but hopefully my weaknesses will be my strengths!
To end on a lighter note - i will get 6 months worth of summer weather and won't have to wear make-up. Africa has got the right idea :)
Ciao