We visited our second location for the second time today and as expected the crowd was much larger than the previous day. It is rather normal for the first day to be the local parishioners of the church and the second day word has spread, so many travel from far away to partake.
The kids were awaiting us. For me, it is fun to watch the children. They stare at us trying to figure out what’s up with these guys. After a few hours and a few hand waves to them with a smile, they are all in. Some of the adults take a little bit more time, but a friendly smile and a wave seems to bridge our worlds.
The morning went smoothly with medical reviews and mosquito net distributions. Shortly before lunchtime, Michael and me joined a small group and went to the pharmacy to get the final two days worth of medication. On the way we stopped at a hospital to drop off a mom and her sick baby. The baby apparently had anemia and we sent her there for additional testing and treatment that we could not do in the field. The hospital had several modest buildings located within a fenced off area. There were a couple different lines leading into the buildings and you could tell people were in need of help. I was taken by the contrast of this hospital versus the state of the art facilities in Houston.
The pharmacy was the same place as we went on Sunday and just as busy. While we were there, the heavens opened up and rain fell heavy in town. The streets carried a lot of rainwater, and we had to wait a while in order to maneuver the van up to the door of the pharmacy to load up the boxes. When we got back to the church we found that the storm also hit them very heavy. A lot of wind and rain caused all the people waiting in line to come into the church. Doug managed the challenge admirably (see picture below)!
It was another blessed day for our team. The days seem to all blend together. I have seen a lot of sights, and I am gracious for the opportunity to experience Uganda, and more importantly, the Ugandan people.
Mark Gehringer