Saturday, November 8th, 2014
Please enjoy this brief video put together from our Palm Beach Atlantic University, Gregory School of Pharmacy team. Â It truly represents the trip and the impact on the students and the people of Uganda we had the joy of serving.
Here is a journal I started to write when we were in Uganda this May. Â I wanted to share in case anyone was interested in hearing about some of the things our team and me personally was going through during our trip. It will give my individual perspective anyway!
Lisa Sorensen, Volunteer-Word In Deed Ministries
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Mukono, Uganda -Â May 12th 2014
We are all getting settled in after our first full day in Uganda. The long journey does not seem to have affected or discouraged anyone. Tonight after dinner the team shared, after being introduced to the locals who are assisting our mission trip, and they all duplicated their excitement and joy of being in Uganda, to be the hands and feet of Jesus.
Today we had the RX clinic drugs, over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, suitcases full of supplies all spread out on the hotel entrance, parking lot, open-air bar area of the hotel – basically trying to get organized for the 4 clinic days. It was humorous to see all this in the making, specially the location we were doing it in.
Professor Nornoo shared tonight how she remembered from last year, seeing Steve & I greeting & hugging, reminiscing, and recognizing old friends from our prior trip to Uganda and what a wonderful thing it was for her to observe in 2013. Now she was getting to do that this year, seeing people she had met before and being the one to say, “it’s so nice to see you again, how are you doing?†This is relationship- building God’s way.
We have laid out all our plans for the day, clinic schedule, health talks, evangelism lessons for the children…but the reality is, God has a plan and it will be even better than what ours are, I am sure of that.
May 13, 2014 - Today’s Highlights
Last year we treated and counseled a wife/mother who tested positive for HIV. She was very reluctant to tell her husband when we informed her of the test results. As is often the situation here in Uganda, if a woman finds out she is HIV +, she will keep it to herself because of the fear that comes with telling her spouse, his reaction often leads to physical abuse and abandonment. We convinced her that she had to do the right thing and tell her husband, and that we and one of the church elders she respected would be there with her, so her husband could be counseled in a Godly manner also. It was hard for us from a missionary standpoint, not knowing the outcome, would he stay with his wife and continue to be a loving husband?
Today she returned to the clinic to let us know, now a year later, that she was doing well on the medicine she had been taking, her family was still in tact, and she deeply desired us to come to her home so she would ‘welcome’ us. We were told her place was not too far from the clinic, so we decided to drop in to see her on our way back to the town.
The bus ride through a small village took about 10 minutes, than we turned down a questionable road (I asked the bus driver repeatedly, “Are you sure we should be driving down here?â€)… Now 20 minutes had seemed to pass and we go to a point we had to stop, park the bus and walk the rest of the way.
So picture a landscape of rolling hills, acres of bananas, plantains and coffee fields, mixed in with the occasional draping trees and clay pathways that had only just recently dried enough for the way to be easy enough to walk. It took another 15 minutes to walk to our new friends house, past other scattered neighbors with goats tied to posts, clay mud huts with children playfully talking to the “Mzungu†parading through their turf.
We arrived at the humble hut and could easily see that this couple was in the process of expanding their clay mud hut and building a brick structure that would soon be their new home. She offered us to come into her home, which only really allowed for 4 people to stand inside. We mingled out in the tropical sunset for a few minutes and when we started saying our good-bye’s, one of our team members, Professor Souriel (who was instrumental in the counseling of this couple) was offered the traditional Ugandan gift of thanks, their fattest, prized chicken! It was beautiful. Like the woman in the Bible who offers the last few pennies she has as an offering of thanks and tithe, this sweet child of God wanted to do the same. Showing proper thanks for the loving kindness she received in a desperate situation. To me, this is what mission work is all about.
I think the hardest thing today was a little girl, just under 2 years old, who showed up with her Auntie just as we were winding down the day. We had committed to attend to 75 families for the day and about 12 people remained to see the doctors. The nurse asked me to come meet someone. Auntie had just traveled a very long distance with her niece. Mom & Dad had both died of AIDS and Mom had apparently passed the disease on to her children.  She hoped the doctor could help the little girl with her illness, as she was lethargic. After Dr. Moses talked with her, she was receiving treatment from another clinic, but it was not the best medicine she could be taking because of her young age. The Doctor recommended an alternative Auntie could inquire about when she goes back to her facilitating clinic to see if they would make the Rx change. It’s hard to send away a child and not being able to help. I pulled her aside into a small room with a translator and told her not to tell anyone, gave her some shillings to pay for some food, and some clothes for her children.  I know none of this is long term, but at that moment, that was all I could do.  Then we prayed.
Day 2 in Ntenjeru/Ntanzi  –  Clinic & Kids Programs
During the afternoon, I had a few things planned for the students of the newly opened school that sits adjacent to the clinic and church. The structure itself was originally constructed with the financial support of many through Word in Deed Ministries with the desire to open a vocational school. There local villagers could learn job skills that could provide them with better earning opportunities. Unfortunately, the organization that had initially promised to partner with them in getting the project running had to back out because of lack of funds. Thus, the structure sat empty for almost 2-years. As a ministry, Word In Deed had expressed concern that so much time had passed since completion of the building project, and pressure was being put on the leadership in charge to not be wasteful with what has been given. Pastor Edward shared that this primary school was opened and run totally by faith, as they had no funds to run the school or pay the teachers. They have about 175 students now who have completed their first semester and school commenced a few days early so our team could help give health talks to the students.
At 11 A.M., Leslie Rosa was doing the health talk on Malaria Prevention and left her assignment in triage so we could go to the school. She did the talk wonderfully, involving the students by asking questions and being interactive. Many of them had confirmed that they had experienced malaria before, and we well aware of the side effects and now medical treatment was very important if you are to survive.
Of course there was lots of excitement because the students could see the piles of mosquito nets sitting at the front of the room. At the end of the lecture, the younger P-1 and P-2 students were asked to leave and after a head-count, we had just under a hundred students in the room. We gave out all the nets and the extra few were given to the teachers. Many of the younger students who didn’t receive nets had older siblings, so we were told that they would likely all be sleeping under nets.
Pastor Edward shared later that what we had done, by giving the nets to the children, was a good way to ensure that the nets were used for the purpose intended, by the kids themselves. He said that if we had given them out to the adults, many would have likely sold them, preferring to have the money instead of trying to protect their children. This way it also gives a boost to the school out in the village. The gossip will be, according to Past or Edward, that here is this team of Mzugu’s (white people) coming into this new school, it must be a good school so we need to send our children there.
In the afternoon we met again at 1 PM to talk to the older students who were interested in gardening and learning how to grow vegetables. Lawrence Kayma, who we met a year ago at the Botanical Gardens in Entebbe, had joined us on this trip to serve as a translator. Lawrence has started a non-profit organization in Kampala called Green Youth Conservation Uganda, trying to educate children about environmental protection, preserving medicinal plants, and doing camping trips for kids in villages who never get to come into the city to see the Botanical Gardens.
With Lawerence’s help, we got to talk to the kids about the importance of gardening and growing your own food for sustainability and for health. I brought with me a bunch of vegetable and fruit seeds for the school to use to start their own community garden and we determined that it would be good to develop their own “Garden Club†at school. We democratically had them vote in a male and female president of the garden club and charged them with the authority to ensure the garden was being looked after and that they needed to set up a schedule to make sure everyone participated and the garden was being watered. With Pastor Michael and the teachers we walked out onto the land in front of the school and determined what would be the best spot for the garden to be placed.
At that point, I thought we were done (it was very hot and humid in the sun) and that the kids would be in charge to get it done at a later time under the supervision of the teachers. But out of nowhere two hoe’s appeared and Lawrence and one of the male teachers started to clear out the land and prepare the soil for seed-planting. During this time, Lawrence talked to the kids about the importance of good soil, taking care of the seedlings, and what needs to happen during transplantation when they are ready. Many of the older children were very knowledgeable with gardening as they attended to the family garden at home, mostly growing sweet potatoes, maze and plantains.
So the land was prepared, seeds planted and a promise made. We asked the students how many of them had been to Entebbe to visit the Botanical Gardens. One young man said he knew that it was on Entebbe Road but no one had ever been there. I told them that if they were productive in keeping their garden growing and I saw photo’s (through Pastor Michael) of the fruits of their labor, I would arrange a field trip for them to go into see the Botanical Gardens and have a tour with Lawrence.  Ultimately, this just may have to be another trip to Uganda to verify the productivity of this project . . . like I’m always looking for a reason to return!!!
Thursday, Mpunge Covenant School -Â Mobile Clinic
There was much anticipation for visiting Mpunge this year, the reason being to see one of our patients from last year, a little boy named Moses. The 2013 PBAU team spearheaded getting this little boy the medical attention he needed as he had a life-threatening condition when we met him last year, so we collectively financed the surgery he needed to live a healthy, productive life. You can imagine there were lots of pictures taken with Moses and the scar on his tummy. He was smiling and playing in the schoolyard. It was such a joy to see.
I had a few tasks for myself at this school, and now the students had the procedure down pat – set up the triage while Paul, the HIV counselor, did a talk about HIV prevention to the patients waiting to be seen. The pharmacy is a busy place, being organized in one of the classrooms. Each of our two doctors, Moses and Robert, got their own classroom to meet with patients. We also used one classroom for HIV and Malaria testing.
Mamma Resty, who is the headmistress of the school and village leader, is the heart of this community. She has 11 children of her own, so you can well imagine she’s got great personal knowledge of child rearing. We did get a tour of the completed dormitory, which was just in beginning stages of construction when we visiting last year. It was a real transformation from clay sand and bricks scattered, to a really sophisticated compound by Ugandan standards. I was particularly pleased to see a bathroom they had made with an actual toilet seat encased in concrete sous gal’s didn’t have to squat over a hole in the ground. I told Pastor Edward that now, because of this feature, I could live here.
I also got to deliver a gift from a girlfriend, Cathy Russo, to one of my bible study students from 2-years ago. I took photo’s of all the girls and when I returned from Uganda in 2012, I invited people to “pick & pray†for a girl from my Sunday school class in Mpunge. Cathy selected Gloria Makamya; she wants to be a doctor. When I arrived this time in Mpunge I showed Jackie, Mamma Resty’s daughter the picture I had of Gloria and asked if she knew where to find her. She told me that her name was not Gloria, but that her name was Jesca Agaati. I guess my administrative skills aren’t as good as I thought! Anyway, Jesca received the gift sent by her prayer partner, and I received a letter to deliver back to Cathy. I love being a postal carrier. When Jesca opened her gifts, she was elated to see all the things in her packages.
While we were standing there, taking pictures and laughing, a lady approached us with a little baby in her arms. He was extremely swollen all over his body. His eyes could barely open. Through Mamma Resty and Lawrence, I determined that she did have a number to get to seethe doctor. It was number 38. I asked Lawrence to take the lady and baby to triage so they could get ahead and not have to wait. This little child needed to see a doctor.
The rest of the day ran smoothly. A few people showed up needing medical attention that did not have a number, so we added them in and bumped a few people and children ahead of the line, those who clearly had a problem. Many people show up to get the free medical attention because there is no clinic in Mpunge that has doctors available, mostly they would be seen by a nurse and directed to go to the larger towns for hospital or clinical attention. And most people don’t go because they don’t have the money to travel to the towns.
May 16th Friday – Exhausted but grateful
Everyone is in his or her respective rooms. It’s been along, fruitful day, but I don’t think we will get much sleep. There is a ‘revival’ going on down the street and the singing with loudspeakers and organ music at a toxic (noise pollution) level; it will be entertaining us all through the night.
We finished our last clinic day in Mpunge today – it was exhausting, but invigorating at the same time. So, many great God stories these past 4 days, but also unfortunately, many painful experiences. But now, I am even too tired to type…so I must say goodnight.
Saturday, May 17th  –  We are more than a number to Jesus
Today, tears are flowing and I seek forgiveness from God for the hardness in my heart and lack of wisdom in seeing Jesus in the least of these.
Yesterday a little boy who looked to be about 9-months old was brought to the clinic by a neighbor ‘friend’. I first met him when the woman inquired about getting to see the doctor. Mamma Resty, the headmistress of the school (Mpunge Covenant School & Church) is where we have set up the mobile clinic, and she & I were talking. The woman approached us carrying this little boy, his entire body was severely swollen, and his eyes despondent and he looked malnourished. I told her that she needed to have him see the doctor and she let us know she had received number 38 and was waiting for her turn.
A short time later I was in the classroom were we had set up the pharmacy and Jenny, one of our students, came in crying and needing some water. She was working with Doctor Robert and he had just examined the little boy, number 38, I saw earlier. After examining the baby he diagnosed that this little child of God would probably die in a few days and he needed to be in a hospital, and even than, it was very likely he would not survive. After seeing and hearing that news, Jenny had to leave the examine room and recompose herself.
Soon after that, the neighbor ‘friend’ and patient #38 was seen in the pharmacy to be given the medicine we had available to help him. He got medicine for worms, and Steve got to give him some water to help hydrate him. Again, it was translated that this baby needed to be in the hospital, and while translating this our Word In Deed partner, Rachel, also had to leave the pharmacy because the toll on her during this administration was overwhelming.  As for me, I saw little patient #38 later as the women from the village all gathered around him as he sat on the ground. I could tell there was much discussion about the diagnosis, I touched his swollen feet, trying to be careful not to hurt him, knowing he must be in pain considering the condition of his little body; I took his picture with my iPhone and prayed that God would be merciful.
Last night we returned back from our successful clinic day, probably seeing over 120 patients, adding together the families with children. I was sitting with Lawrence, one of our Ugandan translators, during dinner and got to hear some background about patient #38 as Lawrence was in triage translating during intake. Apparently this little baby’s life started without much hope. His mother had died and then his father could no longer care for him so he took his son to his mother, wanting her to look after the baby. Grandma was really not interested in looking after her grandson but he was left with her anyway.
According to the neighbor ‘friend’, Grandma was not very good at looking after this little boy because she was angry that the son had left him with her.  Grandma left the village and was gone for several days when the neighbor wondered what had happened to the little boy, our patient #38. She went to the Grandmothers hut and found that the little boy had been left there on the ground, alone, and had been there for several days. She took him with her and was trying to do her best to look after him, and it was shortly after that we had arrived for our free clinic.
Because of the lack of clear understanding of patient #38’s circumstances, I feel we failed to be the hands and feet of Jesus yesterday. We let this little child of God down; we did not do our best for him. This morning Steve and I prayed for his soul and prayed for God’s forgiveness and wisdom in what we could do to help this little boy. We resolved that we needed to get Pastor Edward to call Headmistress Resty and see if she can locate patient #38, get the neighbor friend to bring the baby to the hospital and offer to pay for the costs to get him there. Is that the best we can do? Why Lord did we not see that as an option yesterday? Are we so incensed now with what we see here in these remote villages that we have lost our compassion or ability to see Jesus in the face of this little boy, patient #38? I am now burdened with my failure to do my very best for God and His children.
Sunday, May 18th – Â A New Number
We just returned from our trip to Malago hospital in Kampala.  After visiting 2 other hospitals in Mukono and being told that the severe malnutrition nature of this baby Moses, a/k/a patient #38, required he be admitted to the hospital which specializes in children. In the emergency room there were actually 7 – 10 other mothers and fathers waiting in the seating area to be checked by a doctor and there didn’t appear to be anyone in charge to ask how we get to see someone. After several minutes I walked through the area that patients were being looked at and asked a woman (assuming she was a nurse) if she could speak English and if she could come look at Moses, as he was in a bad condition (tome much worse than the babies I saw in the waiting room. She came with me back out to the waiting room and had Grandma bring him to a desk with a scale on it. She took down his name and wrote down his weight, and in her notebook I found it ironic that he given a new number, patient #36.
The nurse brought us into a room with 2 doctors and several examine beds that lined the perimeter of the room. One child was lying in a bed with an I.V. and there was blood on the floor under where he was lying. He was complaining to the nurse that they needed someone to come in and clean up the blood and she told him there was no one.
Moses was looked at by both doctors and the told us he was severely malnourished and that they would admit him and keep him in the emergency section for the night to stabilize him. Tomorrow he would be transferred into the other unit where he will be given a feeding tube to start him on better nourishment. He told the Grandmother that she was not to feed him anything while he was in the hospital, that they would do that. My thought was she wasn’t doing it before, given how sick he was, so they wouldn’t have to worry about that.
We watched for a while as the doctor filled out the intake paperwork and shortly after that another doctor came in and suggested that we leave because they would be admitting Moses and there was nothing else we needed to do. I gave Grandma $20,000 shillings so she would have some money to feed herself while Moses was in the hospital, as our first doctor in Mukono said after about 2-weeks in the hospital, there was a great chance Moses would get better and be healthy again. We prayed that Grandma would not abandon him again.
Backtracking now to earlier in the day, so many things happened at church service, it was very long but very special. The new students from the Ntanzi Covenant School did their traditional dances for us; we had a message from Pastor Kefa on how God changes us, that we are new transformations once we let Jesus into our lives.  He spoke in English and Pastor Edward spoke in Lugandan. Professors Nornoo and Souriel both got to say a few words and it was very touching.  Adwoa also told the church, “I hope you aren’t sick of us, because we will be back.â€Â Praise God.
At the request of the Pastors, I got to speak to the congregation about the necessity of them taking ownership of the 3 buildings they’ve been given – their church, their clinic, their school. God has provided them with great blessings and now it was their responsibility to “Make it Work!†was the message I tried to convey. The pastors had shared with us that they don’t want to pay to come and see the nurse at the clinic, they don’t want to pay for their prescription drugs, they don’t want to pay their school fees (which is typical in Uganda), they are wanting to just have a hand-out. This is life in Uganda.  I told them like the parable in the Bible, they have been given much (talents to grow and prosper), so they have a choice now to bury them in the sand and then have it taken away from them, or to grow and prosper what they have been given. It is their choice.
Lunch was served after church service, so you can well imagine since the news got out that we were providing lunch, the attendance compared to a typical Sunday had tripled. That’s a good thing! The rice was abundant and the kids love it, as they don’t get it very often.  We also handed out bars of soap and the PBAU students did a health talk on hand washing and the importance of using soap to prevent disease.
We had arranged for the sick baby Moses to be brought to the church so we could get him to the hospital.  Surprisingly, the grandmother did bring him and our adventure getting Moses to the hospital is another whole story in itself. We heard a very different story from what we had heard before.  The biggest question we asked was, “Do you love this baby?â€Â She said “yes†and she said she would wait with him at the hospital as long as it took. To me that was the right answer, but in reality, there is no way of knowing if that was the truth.
Today is now Monday and we purchased food for Moses so that there would be food when he got home. We also learned that Moses is not the only child Grandma looks after. She has 4 of her own children at home plus another grandchild. The oldest child who she told us was 14, was left to care for the other four children. This is also typical in Uganda & Africa. We also purchase extra food to be given to the children who were left alone and made arrangements through the church that it be delivered and asked that someone in the village check on that family since Grandma may be gone for a couple of weeks. Again, we can only pray that it happens because we are not in control.
Lots more to tell about today’s adventures, but its time to eat – so it’s time to go!
May 22nd, Reflections  –  It’s More Than Medicine
Had a few days now to allow my mind and body catch up with each other, and I will surely need a few more days to feel somewhat stabilized, but I would be remiss if there weren’t a few things I shared.
The team of PBAU Gregory School of Pharmacy students, as a whole, was incredible. The cohesive teamwork that I observed was truly outstanding. I don’t give out compliments easily either; it’s not one of my spiritual gifts (LOL!). But, I have to say these young men and women were great examples of those being the hands and feet of Jesus in both word and in deed. This was our second team participating from PBAU. Last years team was also gifted, well planned and smooth… but we learned a few lessons and applied them this year. I think one of the major improvements was the prayer and spiritual aspect of this trip. One of the questions we asked each person during triage on this trip, “Would you like someone to pray with you?â€Â From the reports after each clinic day, most people replied, “YESâ€! Praise God!
As I roamed around each area to try and facilitate different needs for the clinic and monitoring patient flow between the Doctors, HIV & Malaria testing, counseling, etc., (with as much ease as possible), one of the joy’s of my experience was seeing that once people received their RX’s fills and instructions for proper administration of and drugs or vitamins, there would also be those who would be standing remotely aside receiving prayers from one of our team-members. It doesn’t get any better than that! These drugs can assist a temporary, physical need. Our improvement this year was in the spiritual needs and praying with 100’s of people.
I would be remiss is I also didn’t share this story. Melchisedek Dagis, one of the pharmacy students posted two beautiful pictures and this on his FaceBook page; “This picture sums up my trip to Africa. I meet Hadijjih during the 2nd day of clinic while I was triaging her. For some reason I asked to pray with her and she was reluctant because she served other Gods. I noticed a metal bracelet around her arm and she explained that her bracelet represented her commitment to the Gods that she served and the day that she took it off these spirits would terrorize and kill her. I proceeded to tell her about the only God that I knew, the only true God. I told her about Christ and what he did on the cross for sinners. She seemed interested to hear more so I told her everything that I knew about God and Jesus. She eventually accepted Christ and as I prayed with her I noticed that her taking off her bracelet. I asked her to come back on Sunday to church. I was worried that she wouldn’t come back but she did (we wore the same colors). With the help of a friend I was able to have a bracelet made for her. I told her that this new bracelet represented hope, a bring future and a new beginning. It meant that she did not have to resort to drugs, alcohol, tobacco and sexual promiscuity to find meaning in her life. JESUS was now her new identity. There is more to her story but I was glad that I was able to impact someone’s life by sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. This trip was beyond amazing. God is good!â€
This is the kind of testimony that can only be given when short-term missions are accomplished. God is moving mountains in this. People who may be questioning their faith in these small villages where witch doctors are still prevalent, where strings are being tied around waists and wrists to ward off evil spirits, where Jesus is still being questioned as the Son of God. Seeing so many Ugandan villagers asking for prayers is a testimony to the medicine they are receiving. They are hungry for God. They are hungry for Jesus. They are hungry for the truth found in God’s word. What a blessing to be part of.
The two PBAU professors leading the trip this year, Adwoa Nornoo and Mariette Souriel, were instrumental in making things happen again this year. What really excited me also as a ministry leader was to hear that so many of the students who joined us in 2013 also wanted to return in 2014. Dr. Nornoo and I discussed this as a kind of after-thought the evening the team was departing. We had 3 students returning with us for the 2nd year on this trip to Uganda. For me personally and as a trip coordinator, it was an affirmation that what we are trying to accomplish for God’s glory is working also. These students returned with a passion and assurance that God wanted them to continue what they had started, to build on the relationships they had made last year. The reality of that shows up in Facebook and in photographs where they have been reunited with their friends and patients from last year.
This kind of medical mission trip takes numerous hours of preparation and planning, but it also takes of village of hands across the globe to be successful. I want to thank the numerous people who supported the trip financially and with prayer. The Ugandan volunteers, the two amazing Doctors, the translators, the Pastors & their wives who consistently go over and above the call of duty. All the people who fed us and provided the safe, comfortable place for us to sleep. Our sweet assistant Rachel, who is full of energy and without her, being my right hand, we would have had way too many complaints! It takes a village! God’s provision was full in so many ways.
Now, what is even more exciting for our small ministry, Word in Deed (WID) has expanded 1,000 fold by these experiences. Students this year have seen the changes at Mpunge Covenant School (the same village campus we did a mobile clinic last year was in the midst of construction and expansion). This year, offers to sponsor children to attend school have developed and affirms for me that what we, WID, is doing as a ministry is honoring God by providing education and spiritual development for these young children. As I sit here now, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the lives that are being affected, not only here in Uganda, but at home in USA.  Praise God.
Lisa Sorensen, Word In Deed Ministries
May 2014
Postscript – November, 2014
Baby Moses spent over 2-months in the hospital in Kampala. He has returned to his Grandmother and now we have set in place a monitoring system so that if she runs out of food for the children, she can go back to the school and ask for provisions. Moses has been there also several times and our prayer is that he will start school at the Mpunge Covenant School and grow up to be a mighty warrior for Jesus.
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