We spent the day today with Sole Hope at their outreach house and clinic. I have been looking forward to serving with this organization since I started this mission trip journey, as I've followed their work for the past year or more. I highly encourage you to look into their mission and see the amazing, heart wrenching work they are doing in these Ugandan communities, treating, cleaning, healing little feet from Jigger infestation and providing shoes. Upon preparing for the trip, I was able to coordinate a Sole Hope shoe cutting party at Alternative, where we collected denim pants & plastic bottles to make over 70 pairs of shoe "uppers". I was able to hand carry 50 sets with me, (flash back to the weight limit and baggage overage!) and give them to the founder Dru, alongside one of the shoemakers who will sew the denim pieces together and attach the rubber sole, made out of tires and US Naval hovercraft bottoms ( amazing repurposing all around!)
I underestimated the intensity that would come with volunteering at their clinic / outreach and can honestly say it was the grace of God that carried me through the physical pain I witnessed and the emotional pain I experienced. As the clinic was set up on the grounds of the SH Outreach house/compound where they house the children (and some adults) with some of the most severe Jigger cases. They receive treatment, clothing (precious "pillow case" dresses for the girls), food, shelter and education on prevention and future treatment throughout a 2 week stay at the house, while they can heal. I'll spare you the gory details on Jiggers and jigger removal, but it is a horrific problem here in Uganda and is incredibly painful to endure having them, as they continue to grow and spread as well as having them removed, by hand, one by one with a safety pin.
Our team was able to serve SoleHope and their staff by documenting each case, assisting with removal and cleaning, comforting, holding and sitting with the children throughout the process (upwards of 2 hours, in some cases!) and organizing crafts and games for the kids pre & post the removal.
In our first world minds, we all struggled with ideas and thoughts of how WE could make this process better, less painful and traumatic, etc etc and questioned the process to some degree, but ultimately what SoleHope's staff is doing, works and is with the best interest of these children in mind.
I had the honor of washing little feet clean and then sitting and holding some precious children while they endured removal and then treatment & dressing wounds with antibiotic ointments & gauze.
For all the moms out there, I don't know how you endure pain and suffering of your children as it was almost too much for my heart to bear.
Once the little feet were wrapped up and covered with new, clean socks I was able to assist with fitting them with NEW shoes, made with love by hands from different parts of the world!
These children are the strongest, bravest most courageous kids I've ever seen and my greatest hope is that their time at SoleHope will be filled with memories of love and care, and not just the pain they've endured.
No comments:
Post a Comment