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Saving Babies No baby should starve to death or die for lack of simple medical treatment By Ken Goyer I have a baby. He happens to be twenty two years old. But he's still my baby. Most people feel that way about their children. They always love them and wish them their best. I know my mother still does. When I arrived at Boke Camp a mother came to me with her baby. I knew there was something wrong. I've seen the look before. The baby was sick and the mother had no milk. She also had no other options than to plead her case to me. We decided to take the baby to the hospital. Before we could go we had another baby to take too. Fortunately, Boke Camp is well organized. A woman lives there who is a nurse-midwife. She does the best she can but she has no supplies and no resources. Evaster came along with us to advocate for the woman and the babies. First, we went to Medecins San Frontieres. We know them as Doctors Without Borders. MSF has an international reputation as being the best. They are known for going into harm's way to help people. They have a large compound here in Lira that deals with malnourished children. Unfortunately, even though Vicky has not eaten for awhile, and her mother is dry, and she is sick, and in eminent danger, she doesn't meet the MSF standard of a malnourished baby. The other child doesn't meet the standard either. So we are turned away. We are told to go to the PAG, the Pentecostal Assembly of God Hospital. We arrive after dark at the PAG Hospital. The power is out in Lira and the hospital has no backup power. So the hospital is in the dark except for two kerosene lanterns. Dozens of women with children are sitting on the floor, and outside on the ground, waiting to plead their cases. We would call this the "emergency" room. Both children are admitted. The good thing is that the P.A.G. hospital will see you. The bad thing is that you must pay. If you have no money you will be turned away. No one in the camps has any money. Also, they don't believe that they can obtain help. So they wait at home. And maybe their babies die. Later we learned that your camp leader could write a note for you and they will see you for free, but you still must buy any necessary medicine and supplies. We didn't know this so we paid the deposit for the two babies, 5,000 shillings each or about $2.80. Later yet we learned that this was not true, only certain registered camps could have the camp leader sign. Also the mother will remain with the baby. She must live (outside) at the hospital. To do this she needs a sleeping mat, blanket, wash basin, food, pot, charcoal, plates and utensils, and soap. (This is the recommended list). Both of these babies and their mothers remained at the hospital for a week. Fortunately, their families had enough of a support system at home so they could remain away from their other children that long. The next day we returned to the hospital to see how the babies were doing. They had malaria, anemia, and diarrhea but they were improving. Returning to camp we told the babies' families of their improved condition. Two more mothers with sick babies came forward and by now quite a crowd had gathered. I said that we would also take them to the hospital. A large sigh of relief came from the crowd. No one wants to see their babies die. Many adults and other children in Boke Camp also have diarrhea (and bodily swelling). We agreed that the well should be checked for contamination and later we learned that the well had been "spoiled". Now we have four babies in the hospital with malaria, anemia and diarrhea. I decided that malaria anemia and diarrhea should be called MAD. (When Peter arrived he christened it DAM!). By the end of the week these babies were recovering from MAD but the initial problem still existed. Vickie's mother has no milk. The hospital did not address this problem. How can Vicki survive with no milk and no money? Four days ago another baby was born in Boke Camp and this baby is now named Ken! Guess What? Ken's mother has no milk either. With a call to my friend Sylvia Gregory in the United States I learn that the mothers need re-hydration, vitamins, protein and continued suckling for a chance to produce milk again. Realistically, this will not happen. These babies will have to survive on cow's milk. I forgot to mention that Vickie's mother had diarrhea the entire time she was in the hospital. But she was afraid to mention it for fear that its treatment would cost more money. And she undoubtedly was dehydrated. Almost everyone in Boke Camp is malnourished and protein deficient. By now, a week later, Chuck, Christine and Peter have arrived in Lira to help with the stove project. Adelitus has also arrived from Tanzania to help us in "anyway he can". Christine met Adelitus while she was in the Peace Corps in Tanzania and he has become friends with Christine and Peter. Adelitus is a medical officer. That is to say he is medically trained and he runs a rural clinic in Tanzania but he is not a doctor. He took over this Samaritan task of medical intervention and he became instrumental in saving the lives of many people while he was here. This next week we started building stoves in Erute Camp. Even though Erute Camp appears cleaner and has more support than Boke Camp, we encounter the same scenario. There are many sick people and many more babies with MAD. In Erute Camp we encounter our first three cases of typhoid. We have now seen the tip of the iceberg in two of the forty camps in the Lira region. And then there are the Gulu camps and the Kitgum and Arua camps, and then the Sudan, the Congo, Somalia, Niger, and fifty other countries. After Adelitus leaves I find out that All Nations Christian Care, the organization we are working with to build energy efficient wood cooking stoves in the camps, has a nurse. She didn't come into our radar because she has been on vacation for part of the time we have been here. Also, Helen doesn't have any money or resources. She is waiting for some equipment to arrive from the United Kingdom and with this equipment, she hopes to start a mobile clinic to visit the various camps. A.N.C.C. wants to start a clinic in northern Lira but rebel activities have prevented it from opening or operating. So we can support Helen and help her to find these babies and to provide what is necessary for them to survive. In the case of Vicky and Ken and two other babies, it's a supply of cow's milk for four months until they can be fed porridge. In the case of the other babies, children, and people, it's varying amounts of money to provide early intervention with simple drugs, or admission to the P.A.G. Hospital. I hope that we can support Helen and All Nations Christian Care to continue with this task. In this day and age no baby in the world should die for such meager reasons. The World Emergency Relief Organization, a non-profit umbrella group that aids the A.N.C.C. has offered to transmit any money it receives for this cause to A.N.C.C. Any body or any group wishing to help can send money directly to them or to me and I will forward it to them. I hope to establish a permanent fund for this cause. You should mention that you want the money to go for the MAD fund, the Medical And Dietary fund of All Nations Christian Care. I hope that we can turn MAD around with the MAD fund. I should add that help comes in many forms and at many levels. Just knowing that there is someone else in the world that knows about you and cares provides very important hope. On a grand scale, the P.A.G. hospital could stand a massive transfusion. In between, Adelitus wants to return to Uganda and continue with his work in the camps. There is opportunity at every level for us to help with this situation. What can you do? I am Ken Goyer 285 Maple Street Eugene, Oregon 97402 U.S.A. Telephone 541-689-7170 Web page aiduganda.org World Emergency Relief P.O. Box 131570 Carlsbad, California 92013 |
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