I had my next meeting with Dr. Pirani and it went well. He was pleased with the notes I had worked out with regard to the mobile clinics and noted that I had cast a wide net. However, most of what happens in Uganda is about sustainability and using available resources, etc. Duh.
So, Dr. Pirani has given me some names to contact and hopefully get involved with this project. He also gave me the name and number of a young man who just returned from Uganda after two months there. Interestingly enough he was doing research on the non-compliance with clubfoot there and the reasons behind it, so this ties in nicely with what I want to do. I haven't had the chance to call him yet, but plan to do so right away.
This is getting very exciting!
I have to call the Travel Medicine and Vaccination Centre to set up an appointment with them right away as I figure I will need about 10 vaccinations before I go. Yipes! Better get going on that right away!
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Saturday, June 16, 2007
Inspiration
When Hayden was born with clubfoot, I had no idea what path it would eventually lead me down. I mean, you take a kid to Children's Hospital for treatment and you expect the best, right? But, as hard as those first four months were, I'm glad they happened. They gave me the drive to press forward, make changes and ultimately they led me to Dr. Pirani which has opened the door to this opportunity.
Way back in highschool, when I all but failed typing class and vowed NEVER to be a secretary, I would have laughed if I'd anyone had said I'd be an Administrative Assistant with some considerable skills in 20 years! I'd have laughed even harder if I'd been told I would be loving what I was doing!
But these skills are what got me here today and well, I couldn't be happier.
So what has inspired me to go to Uganda? I was asked by Dr. Pirani if I would help proofread a booklet that he and a team of others were putting together for parents of kids with clubfoot. I felt honored and accepted. Before I knew it, I was part of the team and a contributor! This led to Dr. Pirani asking if I'd be interested in helping him with some other documents. These were transcribed notes from audio tapes for a conference held in Uganda in 2005. My job was to make them sound more professional as they were typed verbatim and most of them didn't make sense when you read them, although when you heard them, they did. Funny how the brain works, eh?
During the course of me re-typing these notes, I was working on one particular section that discussed the obstacles to parents obtaining treatment for their clubfoot kids in Uganda. A story was told about a grandmother who was waiting for money to take the bus and get her granddaughter to her appointment. The money did not come, so she decided to walk. The child was two years old and the grandmother had heart problems, so it was slow going since she was carrying the child. I do not know how far she walked, but I know that I cannot carry my two year old son more than a couple of blocks without collapsing and I'm in relatively good health! Eventually, the grandmother made it to her destination only to discover that the clinic was now closed for the day.
I wept as I typed this part. How could things be so unfair? My gut reaction was to send money, perhaps sponsor a family directly with a clubfoot child. But as I regained my senses, I realized that if I was the one living at that level of poverty and someone sent me money, most likely I would be using it for necessities and not my child's feet. So I kept typing and thinking. Could I send the money directly to the project and have them distribute it? But the same scenario arose to me - it would get spent on other things. The answer came a little later on when other obstacles to treatment were being discussed. Obviously poverty is the biggie and affects most other situations, but then there is the size of families - often with babies and other small children that cannot be left behind while the older child gets treated; or it is harvest time and the mother simply cannot leave; or the fathers control the finances and refuse to give up the money for such a thing, so the mothers have to try and save from whatever else they are given.
The notion came up for mobile clinics. A-ha! I thought. This is it - if Mohammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed! I arranged a meeting with Dr. Pirani and we met. We discussed the progress of the document and I brought up the idea of these mobile clinics. What impressed me was there was no hesitation on his part, no "well we should discuss this in depth and talk to others, etc." - he immediately pricked up his ears and started making notes, mentioning that our next meeting should have half an hour set aside to discuss this. I was elated! I can make a difference somewhere in the world!
The next meeting is scheduled for the 28th and I am beside myself with excitement. Dr. Pirani has had me prepare a "who, what, when , where, why and how" type list which I will share with him then. Until then, the seeds of inspiration keep sprouting and I am already planning a fundraising banquet to be held here and have even started writing a speech for it!
In the meantime, I keep reading as much as possible on Uganda and the customs, etc. It is a fascinating country and everything I read tells me it is "the" place to go in East Africa!
Bye for now.
Way back in highschool, when I all but failed typing class and vowed NEVER to be a secretary, I would have laughed if I'd anyone had said I'd be an Administrative Assistant with some considerable skills in 20 years! I'd have laughed even harder if I'd been told I would be loving what I was doing!
But these skills are what got me here today and well, I couldn't be happier.
So what has inspired me to go to Uganda? I was asked by Dr. Pirani if I would help proofread a booklet that he and a team of others were putting together for parents of kids with clubfoot. I felt honored and accepted. Before I knew it, I was part of the team and a contributor! This led to Dr. Pirani asking if I'd be interested in helping him with some other documents. These were transcribed notes from audio tapes for a conference held in Uganda in 2005. My job was to make them sound more professional as they were typed verbatim and most of them didn't make sense when you read them, although when you heard them, they did. Funny how the brain works, eh?
During the course of me re-typing these notes, I was working on one particular section that discussed the obstacles to parents obtaining treatment for their clubfoot kids in Uganda. A story was told about a grandmother who was waiting for money to take the bus and get her granddaughter to her appointment. The money did not come, so she decided to walk. The child was two years old and the grandmother had heart problems, so it was slow going since she was carrying the child. I do not know how far she walked, but I know that I cannot carry my two year old son more than a couple of blocks without collapsing and I'm in relatively good health! Eventually, the grandmother made it to her destination only to discover that the clinic was now closed for the day.
I wept as I typed this part. How could things be so unfair? My gut reaction was to send money, perhaps sponsor a family directly with a clubfoot child. But as I regained my senses, I realized that if I was the one living at that level of poverty and someone sent me money, most likely I would be using it for necessities and not my child's feet. So I kept typing and thinking. Could I send the money directly to the project and have them distribute it? But the same scenario arose to me - it would get spent on other things. The answer came a little later on when other obstacles to treatment were being discussed. Obviously poverty is the biggie and affects most other situations, but then there is the size of families - often with babies and other small children that cannot be left behind while the older child gets treated; or it is harvest time and the mother simply cannot leave; or the fathers control the finances and refuse to give up the money for such a thing, so the mothers have to try and save from whatever else they are given.
The notion came up for mobile clinics. A-ha! I thought. This is it - if Mohammed will not go to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed! I arranged a meeting with Dr. Pirani and we met. We discussed the progress of the document and I brought up the idea of these mobile clinics. What impressed me was there was no hesitation on his part, no "well we should discuss this in depth and talk to others, etc." - he immediately pricked up his ears and started making notes, mentioning that our next meeting should have half an hour set aside to discuss this. I was elated! I can make a difference somewhere in the world!
The next meeting is scheduled for the 28th and I am beside myself with excitement. Dr. Pirani has had me prepare a "who, what, when , where, why and how" type list which I will share with him then. Until then, the seeds of inspiration keep sprouting and I am already planning a fundraising banquet to be held here and have even started writing a speech for it!
In the meantime, I keep reading as much as possible on Uganda and the customs, etc. It is a fascinating country and everything I read tells me it is "the" place to go in East Africa!
Bye for now.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Uganda My Heart
First posts are always hard and a little dorky, I find! Well, so be it.
This blog will highlight my efforts and hopefully success in getting to Uganda. Even more hopefully, it will be to see the mobile clinics for clubfoot that I am aiming to start up over there, with the assistance of the Uganda Sustainable Clubfoot Care Project. More information can be found here.
Next, the inspiration for this trip and subsequently, this blog.
This blog will highlight my efforts and hopefully success in getting to Uganda. Even more hopefully, it will be to see the mobile clinics for clubfoot that I am aiming to start up over there, with the assistance of the Uganda Sustainable Clubfoot Care Project. More information can be found here.
Next, the inspiration for this trip and subsequently, this blog.
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