HIGH DRAMA AND NICE JEWELRY

Some high drama at JIM Centre lately. One of the girls, Lila, fainted in the girls dormitory. I headed over to the dorm to see what was going on, checked her pulse, her breathing...all the stuff you do. She seemed fine and when I tried to open one of her eyes with my fingers, the other one squeezed itself shut, tighter. It was rather obvious that she was faking it...99% obvious. But really, how is one supposed to deal with this type of thing? There was this tiny part of me that wondered if maybe it was for real and she was seriously ill but what would I do if she was? Services, like 911, emergency vehicles, paved roads, reliable hospitals, etc... are not available here. And if someone is faking a fainting spell, aren't they kind of ill? The night before another girl, Sophia, was wandering around, wrapped in a blanket, looking miserable. She said she had malaria, not really a big deal around these parts and definitely treatable. I asked Madam Niger (seriously scary battleaxe of a woman, not difficult to understand why the girls are afraid of her) for some medicine, she laughed in my face, gave me the meds, spoke in rapid Luganda to her friend, laughed at me some more, then I left. Sophia came with me to my room for some water, took the pills and we sat in silence for a bit. Then she asked me for food. One of the main symptoms of malaria is a complete loss of appetite. I understood Madam Niger's laughter a little bit more... So I gave her peanut butter and bread and told her good night. These kids need attention, food, love and more. As my friend Michelle says "even the cats are needy here."

A couple of days ago, I decided to go for a nice evening stroll through the picturesque, impoverished village where I live. Some of the kids asked if they could come, I said yes. So 12 of us headed out for an hour, I took a bunch of pictures-they LOVE seeing themselves in pictures-and then we headed back. Later that evening I learned that the kids who came on the whole walk with me (a few went back midway) missed dinner that night because they were gone when it was served. My immediate reaction was to buy them all dinner but it was pointed out to me that the kids know when dinner is served, they knew they would miss the meal. So what is the right thing to do in that situation?

Pelagia is still in the hospital, still very sick, hasn't been given a blood transfusion, hasn't been started on ARV's...I actually don't know what they are doing for her there. Yesterday I found a doctor ( it's sad how much influence you have when you're pigmentally challenged), asked him to look at her and explain to me what's going on. It turns out that they really haven't done anything for her. While we were there, they gave her an IV, took a blood test (after a week???!!!) and told us that they were going to start counseling her for ARV's. I went again today...still nothing. She hasn't been given blood, even though now they know she really needs it (apparently they learned a bunch of stuff when they took a blood test), no treatment has been given. They don't have a steady supply of blood, so it's understandable that she hasn't received a transfusion. Maybe the whole situation is understandable if you're Ugandan. So I'm an advocate for Pelagia and maybe my daily pestering will help her get treatment but what about all the other patients there? Who will be their advocate?

So for some positive news... I randomly met this woman named Torkin. She's from Colorado and runs an organization called Bead4Life. Bead4Life buys locally made beads from two womans groups and sells them throughout North America. They have opened up savings accounts for these woman and each sale, they put some of they're earnings into the bank. Bead4Life is planning on building a village here and each of the woman are saving up to buy a home there. I asked if I could volunteer with them for a few days. So last week I spent two days literally immersed in beads and jewelry-it was heaven...in the ghetto. The ladies are wild and fun and dance before the day trading begins. Then each of them are allowed to sell up to 85,000 Ugandan shillings (approx. $40) in jewelry to Bead4Life. Most of the woman put 20,000 in the bank and one woman had 640,000 Shillings in her savings account- I almost wept.

One of the ladies gave me a necklace and it is BEAUTIFUL. I physically had to restrain myself from buying pounds of jewelry...Ladies, if you are interested in buying beautiful, beautiful Ugandan beads or hosting a Bead4Life party in the States, let me know. I have decided to keep volunteering with Bead4Life two days a week.

Finally...a bunch of you have asked to send things and I wasn't sure what to tell you to send but Michelle and Gavah put together a list of items that JIM school needs and here it is...

-pens (black/blue)
-pencils and erasers
-rulers
-novels for new english language learners
-learning aids
-balls (tennis and soccer)
-belts (not for beating the children)
-toothbrushes (or do you say teethbrush?)
-pencil sharpeners,9 (the industrial kind that are used for a whole classroom)
-staplers
-geometry sets/protractors
-markers
-socks
-old clothes (kid and adult sizes)
-puzzles, games, toys
-computer

If you do want to send something, please ship it to:
Leslie Weighill
attn: Lara Newth
P.O. Box 637
Mukono
Uganda

The shipping is kind of pricey, just so you know. Thank you to Katie and Karen who have already sent stuff, Sam too. Katie, your package arrived and the games already look old and abused, which is good-it means they enjoy using them. Karen, I haven't received your package yet but will let you know as soon as I do.