Medical Mission Outreach -HIV clinic

After watching the initial bore hole digging, For the morning, I headed over to the school to work in the HIV clinic. There were several parts to this. Everyone that came to be seen medically was also tested for HIV. Once a person came in and got registered, we gave them a simple HIV test matched with a number. After that they moved on to the next clinic where their temperature and blood pressure were taken before they saw Rozena the mission nurse. From there they went on to the pharmacy set up to get their medications. If a person tested positive for HIV, we called them back to give them a different test and if that came up positive, we matched them up with a counselor to talk to them who would then educate them and set them up to start receiving ARV's.
Wonderfully out of 80 tests that morning, only 2 tested positive. It is really hard to express to you in words the emotions that run through you, when you see that one of those tests is positive. Especially when that person is a beautiful young woman with a baby. The sadness, the grief, that wells up inside for that person is overwhelming. You have just told her that she is going to die and leave a baby who tested negative, an orphan. Tears well up in my eyes even now as I remember those emotions flooding through my soul. Yes, we can sustain her life a little longer through ARV's but all that she is going to have to go through daily now compounds her world that she is already surviving and getting by in, even more.
After talking to Scott the missionary, and mentioning the low number of HIV positives, he told me that when they came to this village several years ago, the health of the entire village was bad. People were very sick and there was a lot of HIV.
But since they regularly brought medical teams and held classes on a regular basis with a home team about HIV and health care and hygiene, the village's health had improved so much that they were the healthiest village in the area. The school was also started to educate the kids which gave them a future.
That is awesome. People's lives were being saved because of the mission's commitment.
Therefore, because of the mission's concern about their well being, people were listening to their message of "Hey, there is a God who loves you deeply.





Debra, Reni and Johnathan working in the pharmacy area
Bruce, Sarah and Jordan ready for the HIV clinic
Kids waiting outside the clinic
Rico outside of the clinic jumping with the kids jumprope made out of palm leaves
My job was to sit with the people coming over to get pricked, hold their finger stable and to comfort them. I spoke Luganda greetings to them and they were really surprised and then they went on and on speaking and I just shook my head and smiled. I could get the point of what someof them were were saying but not all.

I loved this part! Just being there and giving them assurance and a smile. I hoped that Jesus was showing through because I wanted them to feel him touching them. I hope that happened.
I don't know who took this pic but somebody got hold of my camera while I was talking to this lady.
This was scribbled up on the school wall
In line for registration
Outside of the clinic, people waiting to be seen