Friday, July 9, 2010

Medical Problems at the Tororo Public Hospital

Our team visited the public hospital where conditions are shocking. As we went from bed to bed praying for the sick and trying to bring smiles to faces without hope.

We stopped next to a woman who needed prayer and when we asked why she was in the hospital she showed us a large tumor on the heel of her foot. We asked what they were doing for her and she replied: “Nothing. I don’t have money for treatment so they just leave me here to die.”

When we left the hospital my husband showed me a picture of a baby whose picture I wouldn’t dare put on here. His little head was severely infected and much of his head didn’t appear to have skin on it. Robert was told there was nothing to be done for the baby as his mother had no money for treatment.

I asked our Ugandan friend who escorted us to the hospital if he could find out more information on those two. The next day he returned to the hospital and the woman was no longer there. He talked to the mother of the baby and told her some people wanted to help her son but he would need to go to another hospital—she agreed and was so grateful.

Our friend, Eric then went in search of the woman in her village. He found her under a tree with a mosquito net hanging from the tree and a rag wrapped around her tumor to protect it from the flies and mosquitoes.

Her story?

When the tumor appeared her husband left her for another woman, taking their two children with him. He would not allow her to see her children and the house he left her in collapsed, leaving her homeless and alone. She was forced to go to her in-laws who are extremely poor but allowed her to stay with them. I was told, “It is an abomination to have to live with your father-in-law because most of these homes are one-room huts and you have to undress in front of him because there is no room for privacy.”

She told Eric that she was lying in the hospital and decided, “Why don’t I go back to my village and let me die there.”

Eric told her that someone wanted to help her get treatment. He told me: “She was in such sorrow and pain but when I told her about the treatment she smiled and she now has hope.”

We gave Eric money for a taxi so she could get to another hospital where she will be treated. The tumor was leaking and smelly so the driver refused to take her. Eric searched for a “special hire” who for more money agreed to take her.

She is now in the new hospital where they are caring for her and will do a biopsy before deciding what to do with her.

The baby? They did surgery on him immediately and declared it successful!! We are looking forward to receiving an update on him.

If you feel moved to help us with these expenses, please send a check to Hope 4 Women,

P.O Box 74010, Phoenix, AZ 85087. Or call our office to use your credit card 623-979-5516. If we collect more than we need we have others waiting in line for treatment.

God bless you.

For more information contact Rachel@h4wi.org

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