Ruthie in Uganda: Just a wee update this week....

I hope this wee update finds you all well. Thank you once again for your continued prayers, love and support. I cannot believe today is the 18th March and that I only have 12 days remaining!

This week I added a few more clinic/dentist /hospital trips to my collection. 3 trips on Monday, 3 trips on Tuesday, 2 trips on Wednesday, 4 trips on Thursday, 1 trip on Friday and 3 trips today....rotten teeth, malaria, cellulites, burns, ear infections, viral rashes....I have spent a lot of time this trip in clinics, but am so thankful for good health for myself. Good health is certainly not something to be taken for granted, especially here, where sickness and disease are rife.

Whilst Fred still has a long road to travel he has made progress this past week. I have arranged for him to start seeing a counsellor on a weekly basis. We had our first session on Tuesday. The counsellor is a lovely Christian lady. She was so gentle, sensitive and genuine with him. I am so thankful for her.

I have continued to enjoy the work in the slums this week. I just love spending time with these precious children. Foot injuries are common as the majority of them go about bare foot. On Wednesday one of the boys, Patrick, had a bit of a hole in his foot from standing on a nail. This was an old injury, but on Wednesday I attempted to clean it out. Lots of little stones and grit had entered the hole. After cleaning, I dressed and bandaged it and stressed that it was now an open wound and he must keep the bandage on until I saw him tomorrow. When I saw him on Thursday and called over to him, the first thing he said was, 'Please forgive me.’ I didn’t know what he was talking about, so I asked, ‘What for?’ Bless him, there had been a horrendous storm in the night and his bandage had got soaked and come off. I had been woken up in the night by the horrific thunder, rain and lightning and I had lay awake for quite some time thinking about these children on the street, that I know and love.

On Thursday I arranged for a local dentist to come and talk to the children about oral hygiene. After this he then did examinations of all the children’s mouths. I bought the resources and equipment and the deal was he would give free treatment – please pray he sticks to his word!