"I was sick and you looked after me."
Matthew 25:36
Uganda Trip - Jan. 2013
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Westminster Medical Missions 2013 Uganda Mission Team Report
On Sunday, January 13, 2013, a team of twelve people left for Northern Uganda for the 20th year trip of Westminster Medical Missions. The 2013 Westminster Medical Missions Servant team members were Dr. Bill Harden, Becky Harden, Dr. Doug Harrison, David Duritza, Norma Coke, RN, Sherri Walker, RN, Arnetha Wilkerson, RN, Liz Myers, Leray Wilkerson, Paul Looney, Ann Looney, and Laurie Wood-dental hygienist. All of the team arrived safely as did all of our 24 bags.
We were able to pay for and /or perform 56 surgeries.
We paid hospital bills for patients who had no money to pay their bills.
We visited Lira Babies Home and Ngetta Dispensary giving them beanie babies, clothes, and money to buy food and medicine as well as medical supplies.
We had clothes for children made from the “hemmed in prayer” church group from Reidsville, NC; they also supplied “pillow case dresses” as well as many other articles of clothing.
We visited all of the hospital wards giving food, beanie babies, knitted caps, booties, blankets and medicine. We prayed with and for many of the patients there.
We paid to have the AIDS clinic repaired before we arrived and it looked very good on the outside but needed much work on the inside. We paid to have several huts roofs repaired or replaced because of termite damage. As always our outreach/hut visits continue not only to encourage our many patients with AIDS but are a highlight especially for all of the new team members.
Many patients that we had prayed for the year before with TB and AIDS were so excited to see us return to their homes. We were able to visit many other patients and support them in their need.
This year we took Laurie Wood, a dental hygienist, and she was able to (with the help of her rapidly-taught fellow team members) see over 500 children for fluoride treatments and sealing. They were given toothbrushes and instructions on good dental hygiene. The response was overwhelming with many adults wanting treatment as well.
The maintenance needs for the AIDS clinic, staff quarters, as well the garage on the AIDS clinic side are considerable. The estimate to repair the structures was 50,000,000 USHs (approximately $20,000). We have agreed to pay for this over the coming twelve months. After we returned we learned that a lightning strike during a severe thunderstorm struck and destroyed several invertors that are an integral part of the solar panel system in several different buildings. We have been able to pay for two invertors at $1,300 each and trust that the hospital can raise the funds for the remaining ones.
The feeding center had to be closed because of lack of funds and we are investigating the cost of monthly support for the center if we were to sponsor the milk supplied.
I cannot tell you of the joy on the faces of the team members as they distributed clothing, food, and blankets to newborns, patients on the wards, to a Babies home, at a dispensary and especially at the AIDS clinic and hut visits. We spent more on food to give away this year than ever before. It is truly humbling to see a family heating a small pot of beans that are two days old for their only meal of the day.
We were given funds to support many of these families but especially one family where the grandmother was supporting five orphans whose parents had died from Aids and were buried in the front yard. They have no toilet of any kind, little food or clothing, almost no dishes or utensils. We were able to pay for a latrine to be built, food, clothing, mattresses, and repair to her hut (termite infestation).
We paid for transport for the children to the AIDS clinic to be tested. We will return to see them next year to continue our support in other ways.
We thank each of you for your continued support. The 2014 Westminster Medical Missions Team trip to Uganda will be in January. We ask for your continued prayers as we continue to do the work that we feel God has set before us.
The covenant on our web site defines more explicitly what a Servant team is, but to remind you the first paragraph reads:
“As members of a Westminster Medical Missions Servant team, we are sent out in the name of Jesus Christ, to tangibly and effectively demonstrate the love of God, through our ministries of compassion. The goal of each team is to bring honor to Jesus Christ through all that we do and say while carrying out His command to love our neighbor as ourselves.”