Spring of Hope Uganda SoHUG

January photo up date

2012-01-30T01:21:00.000-08:00

January has been a month of many changes, 2012 for us here at Spring of Hope already feels like we are moving to the next level of growth and development.

January month started with an awareness campaign on disabilities, Parish clinics have been established and now we are able to reach to more communities than before this has led to establishment of developing new relationships with the local sub county of Kangulumira.

Awareness Campaign Friday 6th January

Mothers share their stories of having a child with a disability.

Mama Safina sharing her story with Safina on her lap

mama waswa sharing her story of raising waswa a boy with cerebral palsy

local leaders listening and learning

Home Visiting

Martin with our Occupational Therapist intern carrying out assessment

Daniel the Occupation Therapist assisting Zechariah at home


turning steps into a ramp, to ensure zechariah can work into the house without falling

Visting Amina and Mama Amina one our deaf children


reading a card to mama ruth in luganda whilst Ruth reads the card.

Drop in clinics

Therapy can be fun

Fred was able to be discharged, due to the fact he can now walk

Parish clinics

The 25th of january 2012 was the first day we hosted our first parish clinic in one of the six parishes of kangulumira or vision is to have a clinic in every parish in Kangulumira. In the last few years we have realised that by just home visiting not every child is seen. So by starting parish clinics we can ensure that the children are seen and the parents recieve the right guidance which is needed for them to empower their child. During our first clinic we recieve 58 children. We are looking forward to returning to this parish in march!!

Mama Amina sharing her testiomoney of having a child with a disability and how SOHUG has helped her

Erin sharing the story of creation using a puppet

Explaining how spring of hope works and how we can help children with disabilities

parents and children at the parish clinic

Erin speaking on disability awareness

A girl with burns over her face due to acid burning, we now looking at how to raise money for her surgery

Formation of Parents management committee

We believe that if they parents own the work of spring of hope in the community more of a difference is made and it will not just be us doing the work. We are excited to see what will come out of parents management committees. Our hope is they will become self suitable and they will register as an association and they might be able to apply for local grants which are available to parent associations in the district this will help with income generating and poverty aradication within their own familes.SoHug is looking for ways to develop these parent committees long term to enable the parents be able take care of their disabled children.

Each parent was asked to vote for the person they wished to represent them in their village


Our first parents management comittee, chairman and community councilors

Visting Teams

This month we have blessed with two teams from Canada one who helped us with the clinic in wabwoko. This was a very active clinic with lots of activities for the children from football to drawing pictures as well as the usual activities of physiotherapy and epilespy treatment.

The second team came to our office in Kangulumira and tranformed the garage into an OT room, we have been using a very small space as our Occupational Therapy room. We were unable to comfortable host more than two parents in the room, we are now comfortable able to host 10 children in the OT room.


The team helping us to count epilespy medication in wabwoko

Drop in day with the help of visitors

Painting on the wall of the Occupational Therapy room, making it fun for the children.

Making sensory mobiles

One of the many pictures which were painted onto the wall of our new Occupational Therapy room

The amazing team who transformed the garage into an Occupational Therapy room

2012-01-09T01:52:00.000-08:00

What to do something different with your life?

Bored by everyday life?

Or just want to make a difference in a childrens life?

What about volunteering with children with disabilties in Uganda?

Can you give one week to one year, to help children with disabilties who have been margalinsed?

Opportunities for volunteering

We are looking for individuals (qualified and aspiring toqualify or not qualified practicum students, gap year students).

Occupation therapists

Speech therapist

Sign language teachers

Social workers

Counsellors

Nutritionists

Doctors

Nurses

And General Volunteers

All volunteers will assist in Clinics; drop INS, inschools and work alongside our team, help in our clinics in the area of basicfirst aid and in the area of assisting with our children with epilepsy, bedsore care and in the area of nutrition and many more.

Our heart is to see that children who have been havingdifficulty with feeding are able to come to a new level of healing under thecare of the team and the parents are able to love and accept their children ina unique way when they no longer have such severe feeding difficulties.

Summaried volunteer activity desription

Occupational therapists/ physiotherapists – who worksalongside Occupational therapist in the area of assessing our children, in thearea of writing project plans and training parents on how to work with theirchildren.

Speech therapist- within Uganda there is a shortage ofspeech therapists; our children are in need of the attention speech therapistfor support in the area of swallowing and chewing and with speech difficulties.The role of a speech therapist would be to train our staff and parents indevelopmental exercises and teaching our OT on how to asses and writing ofprograms for these children. We have seen to many children die due eatingdifficulties we desperately want to see this change.

Nurses – works alongside us and with our children in thearea of basic medical needs and in the area of nutritional advice to parentsand working alongside our malnourished children. We also need nurses to work alongside ourepileptic children.

Special needs Teachers and teaching assistants – works alongside ourteachers within the schools, special needs teachers will be working alongsideour teachers to empower them on new skills on how to work with children withdisabilities.

General volunteers- works alongside our team in numbersof ways, teaching at the school, running football games for the deaf children,arts and crafts for the children, counting epilepsy pills and many more.

Program descriptions

Home visiting – From Monday-Wednesday we go out and visitchildren in the local communities and we do occupational therapy, works withthe children in the areas of developmental exercise.

Activities of daily living –From Monday- Thursday, wework with the more able bodied children to help them learn how to live anactive life as part of the family through teaching them skills of washing theirown clothes, peeling of matooke (food) and many more.

Drop in day – EveryThursday we run a drop in clinic where parents come to the office and assesphysiotherapy, they are taught how to carry out the exercise. By bringing theparents together, they learn more and are able to support one another.

Schools work- We currently work alongside two schools (MountZion and Kisega primary school). We are currently sponsoring 20 children atthis school (mt Zion); our heart is to see that these children learn vocationalskills. We would love people to run sports and arts and crafts activities. Thechildren would love to just spend time playing with you.

Clinics – twice a month we hold clinics, one is in WabwokoVillage where we receive over 150 patients. In addition, another clinic is nextto our local office. Here we do assessment of children with disabilities,advising the patients on the right exercise and giving out of epilepsy medication.There is room for teaching health skills and basic knowledge skills of life.

The cost of volunteering

The cost of volunteering with us is 16$ per day if underone month ($480 for a month) and 450$ a month if over one month stay, paymentsare done through www.soh.givengain.org one week before you come to help us withyour preparations. Airport pick up fee $150.

What we cover:

Two meals a day (breakfast and supper)

Accommodation

Bills,

Wireless internet access

Transport to and from the village

Transport around the community when working.

NOTE:

Most organisations charge organisation fee but spring ofhope encourages volunteers to decide for themselves whether to helpfinancially, fundraising or in any way.

The organisation's funding is entirely based on friendsand former volunteers who have been on ground. We value much the servicesrendered by individuals to SoHUG.

THANK YOU

2011-12-22T05:53:00.000-08:00

On behalf we want to say thank you for the love you have showed this children and the impact your support has had on them.

We couldnt do this work without your impact!!

THANK YOU

AND

WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS

AND BLESSED 2012!!

Your funds help us run a monthly clinic for epilespy medication and physiotherapy,

we are able to correct childrens feet

Amoti is now able to stand due to the monthly leg he attends

through sponsorhip both Martin and Emma are able to go to school

Through the school supporters door have opened for disabled children to go to school

Due to the help of a special friend and sponsor Brenda is still alive, this beautiful girl keeps getting sick and her sponsor is helping on a monthly basis with food and medical girl

we are able to provide children with epilespy medication, in wabwoko 159 patients have epilespy medication every month

Hebert is learning to become indepent and learning how to wash his own clothes


Ouma is able to stand

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE IMPACT YOU ARE MAKING

ON THESE AMAZING CHILDREN

WE COULDNT DO THIS WORK WITHOUT YOU

Christmas clinic

2011-12-12T04:10:00.000-08:00

On Friday the 9th of December, we had our lastclinic of the year at Wabwoko in Kayunga district, which is 1hr 30mintuesoutside of Jinja.

The clinics attendance amazes us, according to ourbooks we have 300 people registered for this clinic. Sadly, only 150 attendthis clinic on a regular basis.

We are stillworking hard to get parents to accept that if their child takes medicationevery day at the right time. Parents often delay to bring their child to a clinic;very few parents bring their child every month. They sadly find it hard tounderstand that it takes commitment to see an impact in their child’s life.Many parents are still looking for a one off miracle of healing in the lives oftheir child. Instead of learning how to manage the epilepsy. Some parents wait two months before coming toa clinic and when the child starts having severe seizures they come back. Ourmonthly attendance is 150!

Betty is one patient who has decided to work hard atmanaging her epilepsy, every month she comes to a clinic and has committed herselfto take her medication every day at the right time. On Friday she shared withthe other parents, she explained she now leads a full life, and is happy andhealthy. She went onto to explain that before she started taking her epilepsy medicationdaily she would have 5-10 seizures a day now she can through a month without aseizure and the last time was two months ago.

It is such a great encouragement for parents whenthey hear from someone they know and have seen before taking medication.

Our heartsdesire for 2012 is that parents will start believing that management is just asgood as a cure and that it will change the child’s life forever.

We feel so humbled at the end of every year becausethe parents find their way to say thank you, it’s such an amazing humblingpeople who have nothing just want to come and bring you things to say thank youfor helping their child. It just amazesme by their generosity we do not do the work for rewards the reward is to seethe difference in these people’s lives.

patients waiting for clinic to start

chairman of parents association giving thank you speach

humbling experince of being given gifts of thank you for the work soh has done

SOH christmas presents for the patients

parent recieving soap, each book for a patient recieves one soap

preparation- coutning pills whilst we are waiting for patients to come

child with hydrocalpheus

Physiotherapy/ developemental exercise clinic

Monthly clinic at our office

2011-12-08T02:37:00.001-08:00

Every first friday of the month we host a clinic, since the beginning of november we have been hosting the clinic at our office. For the last seven years we have been working alongside an organsation called ACHERU- (Affayo child health education rehabilation unit)!! There team has been an amazing blessing to us in helping us work with children who have club feet and cleft pallets.

In december over 50 children turned up to our clinic!!

Diedone registering patients and giving parents soap as a christmas present

organising names for epilespy


Parents waiting

Child waiting to see a member of the SOH and ACHERU team

Patients waiting to see the doctor

patients on vendera

giving out epilespy medication

Adivising the parent on how to help her son with keeping her developmental exercises

Member of ACHERU team advising parent on child's foot.

End of term trip to the zoo

2011-12-08T00:55:00.001-08:00

On Friday 11^th ofNovember when mount Zion was preparing to go for a study tour. Everyone wasexcited about it some of the children had never been as far as Kampala before,for them it was amazing opportunity and an exciting adventure. The journeybegan at 8am; the bus was full of excitement and noisy happy children. Thechildren were so excited at the idea of visiting the countries parliament building.

The children spent the journeyhappily communicating to one another, there eyes were dancing as they sawplaces along the journey they had never seen before. The vehicle was full ofchildren and the only place to put Martins wheel chair on was on top of theroof. Martin laughed at his chairtraveling on the roof and he was so excited he had never been to Kampala orbeyond Kangulumira Sub County before.

First stop parliament building,the boys were all impressed with the amazing cars inside and will not stoptalking about the posh cars they saw. Many of the children had never seen thecity before and were not sure where to look first.

They arrived at the parliamentbuilding, so excited by the privilege of going into the building where themajor the decisions of the nation are made. Emma and Eric helped Martin throughinto the parliament building.

Once in the parliament building Martins adventure began, hehad never been in elevator before, and was a little scared but loved theexperience. On each floor, he met up with his friends and they went to thedifferent rooms debates where carried out and to different peoples offices. Therewere all amazed by the opportunity of going around the parliament building(Ugandans version of the houses parliament and white house).

The Member of Parliament from Ntenjeru south MP NsanjaPatrick arranged the visit. It isincredibly hard to visit the houses of parliament without the help of a memberof parliament. The children all wantedto have their photos taken everywhere to prove they had really been to the As the children left the parliament buildingthey were called to the parliament gardens, where they were all bought icecreams by MP Nsanja Patrick. After there ice cream they went for photos on thesteps with the MP, as they left he gave them all sweets for the journey to thezoo.

Once they reached the zoo they had lunch, they were allexcited about seeing the animals so lunch was eaten quickly. As they enteredthe zoo, they saw a camel. The moment they saw the park they all ran towardsthe swings and slides, many had never been on slides before or the roundabout. It was a challenge to get them to move on tosee the animals; they saw hippos, chimpanzees, monkeys, snakes, tiger, lion,zebra, and eagle’s hyena. The children loved the animals, Amina, Martin andEmma demanded to pose with the animals, we explained they could not go in andhave their photos taken inside with the animals as they were dangerous butinstead they had to have their photos taken outside the enclosure.

Watching animals

Martin wanted to go into see tortoise,

excitedly watching the animals

Crocidile

watching an white eagle

Great friends, martin and emma posing by an gorial statue

Ostrich

In the end, Martin had to be helped around the zoo by Ericas his wheel chair started to have problems. After seeing all the animals, somechildren decided to swim in Lake Victoria and others went on the playground. Ataround 4pm/5pm time it was time to leave the zoo and travel back to the school.Everyone went home tired but incredibly happy after such a great day.

Children attending drop in

2011-11-15T01:58:00.001-08:00

Evert thursday we recieve 15-20 children who attend our drop in clinic for developmental therapy. The idea of drop in clinics is to encourage the parents to come together every week to attain developmental therapy and to learn from one another how to assist their children to come to a new level.

Drop in clinics have been a real encouragement to parents, many have realised that they are not alone and that they other parents go through similar challenges to them. There has been many times where mothers have been able to encourage one another through parent to parent counseiling.Mothers have come to a drop clinic dishearted, through a conversation with another mother they have left with a smile on there faces and with a lighter heart.

A few of the children who pass through our doors on a drop day:

Ouma Lawrence is 3years old, when Ouma was three months oldit was visible that his head was growing rapidly and the fontanel was becomingsoft and large. The parents came to the SOH office for advice, the mother wasadvised to go to a local hospital for surgery. Instead, the parents decided to visit other places instead andevidentially went back to the hospital where they had the surgery.

Lawrence is able to see and hear well, he is unable to feedhimself, and he poor head control when sitting, and is currently unable to sitindependently. The SOH OT is currentlyworking with Lawrence in the area of sitting, feeding and head control. Itlooks like Lawrence has a great future ahead of him, when you are able to startworking with a child from a young age it makes all the difference to whatdevelopmental levels the child will achieve.

Kasto Brianis 14 years old boy who lives with his grandfather. Until Brian was four years old, he was ableto walk, run and climb tree like other boys his age.

One day hewanted to eat jackfruit, a very sweet fruit which grows on trees, the onlyBrian could get this jack fruit was to climb the tree. Therefore, he climbedthe tree and sadly, instead of getting the jackfruit he wanted he fell downfrom a high branch of a tree. Brian wastaken too Kayunga hospital for treatment. Kayunga referred him straight to themain government hospital Mulago, in Kampala Uganda’s capital city to see if theycould help.

Brian spentthree months in Mulago undergoing treatment and therapy; when Brian left Mulagohe was able to use of his left side.

The doctortold Brian to go to Mulago, twice a month to continue with therapy. Hisgrandfather deeply wanted Brian to continue to get the support he needed butdid not have the money for the transport a four hour round trip twice a month.Brian stopped receiving therapy and his Grandfather was sad and frustrated andsaw no way forward.

Since Brian’s accident, he has spent much of his childhood at home, unable to go to school, lying on a mat. One day his grandfather was told about SOHUG and they would be able to help Brian. His Grandfather felt relieved and came to the office of Spring of Hope. The day Brian and his grandfather came was a drop in clinic; his grandfather was so excited and felt hopefully. Brian is now waiting for his special chair to be ready, so that his days of lying on a mat are over instead he will be able to sit with support. His Grandfather said he would be coming every week to the drop in clinic. Both Brian and his Grandfather feel relieved and see a new future ahead for Brian.

MPANGA WASWA

2011-10-20T06:22:00.000-07:00

MpangaWaswa is a boy who is five years old who has hydrocalpheus,his mother had a normal pregnancy and gave birth to twins you were born withoutcomplications. Within hours Mpanga’s birth he became sick, on medical examination,the doctor told Mama Mpanga that her child was in danger. Mpanga’s head wasswelling and he was developing hydrocephalus. Mpanga needed surgery, MamaMpanga refused due to the cost, the money she just did not have. Mpanga wassent home, as the hospital could not do anything more for him. When Mpanga was15 months old, Mama Mpanga heard about SoH and came to SoH for help as she hadlost all hope. Mpanga was able to havethe surgery he needed. Since Mpanga’s surgery, he has learnt to sit withoutsupport, learnt to talk and tell hilarious jokes. He is a very confident littleboy who loves people and loves having fun.

He is now learning to stand with the help of a standingframe. The child has a special chair, when sitting in the special chair he isable to feed himself. Slowly with the help of SoH he is learning new skills andhe is slowly gaining the use of his right hand. Mpanga would love to go toschool and learn.

A clinic we will never forget

2011-10-17T07:49:00.000-07:00

Normally to get a clinic we will leave the village around 9am and finish the clinic by 4pm. This was a day we will never forget, we currently don't have a vehicle but we deeply need and desire a vehicle this was a day we learnt we really need one.

Some brave volunteers braced the rain around 8.30am, after it had rained for
12hrs, the volunteers waited to to be picked up by our directors, our directors struggled to get to where the volunteers, they where sliding around as the roads where as slippy as if they had ice on them and where evidently able to get to the volunteers who were incredibly wet and cold.

on a day that it rains it is incredibly hard to get to the village people in Uganda often hide until the rain has stopped so the vehicles take age s to fill up so we had to hire a car to the village to make sure we would make it. By the time we got to Kangulumira it had stopped in Kangulumira but the not in town.

Our journey began every month we hire a mini bus taxi which costs us 80,000 Ugandan shillings = £30/29$ where petrol is 30,000ugandan shillings.It normally takes us 45mintues to get up to Wabwoko from Kangulumira, this day it took 2hrs when we got to the road which leaves the tarmac we started to rock and roll and dance as we drive through puddles which are like craters. At one point we were stuck behind a mini bus taxi which couldn't move. If we just had a 4x4 we wouldn't have nearly turned up side down.

We eventually reach the clinic where we expect very few patients, but we were shocked to find very many waiting.These parents will wait for hours and many walk for miles just to receive the medication, Wabwoko is an area which is spread out, where your neighbour maybe a 30 minute walk away.

parents come from all over the place in all modes of transport

We always start with registration so that parents are sent to the right place, on this clinic we had 20 children in the area of physiotherapy assessment.

Our Occupational therapist, spends time with each child and the parent who have a physical disabilities or learning disabilities teaching them new ways of doing development exercises. On Friday he had two occupational therapy students to teach and guide as he worked along the parents.

Betty a special girl with Microcalpheus

We stared counting epieslpy medication as we knew that very quickly we would have alot of patients, they always come slowly at the beginning.

Preparation begins by counting medication whilst waiting for patients


Epilepsy patients waiting to see the doctor, they slowly come in

Suddenly all the patients come and the mad rush begins

The mad rush of getting pills and registering the patients.

We saw over 140 patients in the area of epilepsy in this clinic, when we read the register at the end of the day and realised that we would have 300 patients, that's if they all came at once. Maybe one day we will surprised that we have 300 patients turning up to the clinic.

Our journey back from Wabwoko was still a journey of dancing and rocking and rolling over a muddy track. Maybe one day we will be having a 4x4 wheel drive which can get us to all the children we work with and having uneventful clinics where we reach home at 9pm.

We need £10,000/11000$ for a 4x4 which last a while when crossing dirt tracks and rough tarin.

Our last clinic at the YWAM clinic

2011-10-11T04:55:00.000-07:00

Every first friday of the month for seven years we have been hosting a clinic at the YWAM clinic in Namwandka village, we have seen many children received treatment through this clinic and now the season ends. So we can move onto bright and better things.

This clinic has taken some twists and turns, and has development from just a small number children to many children recieivng epilespy medication and phyisotherapy treatment.

The one thing which is seen a consitenceny of this clinic is the place and our partnership with ACHERU, who bring with them their physiotheraptist to work alongside our occuaptional theraptist Moses.

This clinic is often where parents come who have never recieved support before, whose children may of never seen anyone to advice them before.

This is a child who has microcalpheus and she was being assesd for the first time, her mother was advised to give her passive exercises on her legs

Much of the time is given over to reviewing the children and advising the parents on how to give developmental exercise to their children.

we are blessed to see change go on in childrens lives through this clinic

Before last friday i had never seen this child stand

three years ago this child had never been willing to interact with people or been able to walk

On Friday Namuga had her legs plastered on so that in time and after having her plastered she maybe able to walk, some of our children have also gone through this process and are now walking and playing football. One young man is at university and you would never know now that he had club foot until he was 11 years old.


Namuga is having the plaster removed from her legs,


Having her next plaster put on after a slight manipulation of her foot leg into the right position


The new plaster on, hopefully a few plasters and then we will work on weight bearing and standing

Its a priveledge to be apart of such as an amazing work where we see childrens lives change, last week we recieved around 30 children in the area of phyisotherapy and developement execerise.

Next month we will be continuing our clinics at our office, we are currently praying for a tent where we can host our clinics.

Dreams come true Spring of hope registered as community based organisation

2011-10-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

For so We have been dreaming of reaching more and more children and becoming registering as a community based organisation then in time a Non goverment organisation.

Our dream came true we are now a community based organisation and we are registered in the UK as a charityCharity Reg.No.1143559, UG Reg No. 29/2011, we are currently seeing and praying how we can become a non profit in the USA and Canada.UK

Another dream come true is our website is up and running with lots more information www.springofhope.org.uk and now you can give online at www.sohug.givengain.com.

We still feel like we are dreaming, but its real and we started working on the 1st of October 2011.

Our services are much the same as they previously have been our team has taken a little transformation of the addition of Israel Karaukayo who is now the excutive director, who will be working alongside Teresha Karahukayo his wife and the founder of SoHUG.

Our first job has been to see that the repairs are done on our centre and to make sure that is in a good condition to start recieving children and parents.We are starting to fundraising for a rehabilation centre which is easily accessable for all the community and which will have a huge impact on the community and all families and people with disabilites.

We are excitely waiting for what is next and where we end up. Join us on this journey by either donating or volunteering with us.

Volunteers' Testimonies

2011-05-18T11:40:00.001-07:00

Katri from Finland to SoH Uganda.

To work as a physiotherapist in a Christian ministry was my prayer to God last spring (2010) and it got answered so much more than I could have imagined. I study physiotherapy in Finland in Joensuu and work with disabled children in rural areas of Jinja was new, interesting and challenging. For me it was first difficult to understand and accept how much disability malaria can cause. I was sad how many times we heard the same story: normal pregnancy, no problem in delivery, normal development and then child gets malaria and then getting severe disability possibly in many areas (physical, social, mental). Professionally I learned a lot, working in new environment, with people from other culture, diagnoses I had not worked with before and also some treating methods. I am also happy that I got to put in practise skills that I have learned before in school and use them in the new environment. I really loved the work; the way of Spring of hope is making difference in the lives and families and helping people face to face.

I feel that God really blessed and protected my stay in Uganda. I got meet amazing people, see so much and got so many new experiences to keep in my heart. I am thankful to God. He is good and He is faithful. And He takes care of all of his children.

2011-05-16T03:15:00.001-07:00

This is a video overview what we are currently doing in spring of hope, our services and some of our children.

Drop in days:

2010-11-09T02:54:00.003-08:00

Question: What do you do when you receive more visitors than expected???
We are having more children come to join us on our drop in days than usual. We count it a blessing! We rejoice in every today opportunity to help these young ones. This is keeping our Thursdays busier than ever. We are praying and our wish if God's people there can see the need. therapists to join us would be a blessing from God. May be you are just reading this acticle but not listening to your heart, avoice speaking to you! I AM I THE ONE GOD'S CALLED? This is just a good chance for you to rescue the perishing and care for the dying just like the holy scripture encourages us. We all believe in the gift of love. when God sent Jesus to die for you and me, it was due to his love for us. actually we are delivering the same love to these young stars who sees the world in a different dimension.would you please grab your blessing this season by helping a child.we can all make adifference in this world today if we woke up tomorrow with a burden to give and pray as one of the greatest gift of love.

At spring of hope, we do not underestimate the power of God that uses SoH people, a soft touch and just being around the children sharing through the act of compassion. This is a quickened healing therapy, we thank all Gods people giving to cause change in life of another person outside there! Beyond the blue skies as most imagine of this world to be.Honestly, speech therapy and physiotherapy etc mean alot to our services. Remember; if we are to love our neighbors, we must see them both with our eyes safe and sound, changed and transfomed. Have you imagined what it feel like to see another person suffer from disability? A story told is half story.

Come and join us as we empower the local communities to help their disabled children. email us at soh_uganda@yahoo.co.uk

Creating Awareness

2010-10-28T22:20:00.001-07:00

The problem:

At Spring of Hope, we believe that a problem is not always the challenge… but being unaware of the problem can surely be a big HAZARD! It’s not surprising that sometimes one can live with problems and never realize it until one is told. In the recent past, we came to learn of the gradually rising cases of child abuse as; child sacrifice, child labor, child neglect, child trafficking; especially among the Orphaned and Vulnerable children (OVCs). These are indeed big Issues to deal with! Surprisingly the community was not addressing this concern openly.

Why child abuse???

Unawareness…! Coupled with the conservative culture of the community that regards children with disability as a waste. Also due to ignorance of the community on the Rights of Orphans and Vulnerable children (OVCs) and lack of knowledge on how and where to handle these cases.

Our Role:

There’s no tool as effective as a conscious, informed and transformed mind. That’s why at SOH, we believe in awareness. We believe that if we are to have the community that has a positive thought about children with disabilities, then we do not have to worry about their actions. We have chosen to talk to our community about the real problem.

On Tuesday 2nd September 2010 we held an awareness workshop on the Rights of Orphans and Vulnerable children. The turn up was enormous! Over 160 people attended. These included Local leaders, Religious leaders, Government officials, the Police, Human Rights Activists and the entire local community from different surrounding villages. We are sure that this campaign was timely. A participant proudly remarked that SOH was pioneering a very apt subject. During the workshop, we comprehensively discussed the Rights of OVCs, the role of the Police and referral for OVC cases. We also publicly introduced the community to the responsible persons and bodies handling OVC cases. We also let the community know more about our services.

After awareness

One afternoon while I was having lunch in a restaurant, one of the community leaders walked up to me and made a remark about the workshop, “I was just planning to come to your office. I am already receiving messages of THANKS from the District about the workshop.”

The number of children on our drop in days has gone up, compared to the past because people are getting to appreciate our work and also their disabled children. What a change!

In future…

There’s a golden secret in sensitization! We plan to use every opportunity we have to create awareness and protect the disabled child. We plan to start positive parenting seminars. We believe that parenting is for all. It’s more than just biological. Each one of us has a role to play. You and I!

Something to think about:

It's still a challenge! Sometimes times our children are sad, not because of the disability but because of the actions of the people around them. What you chose TO DO or NOT DO to a child will affect them the rest of their life. How are you treating that disabled child in your neighborhood???

Feeding the children

2010-10-26T05:05:00.000-07:00

One of the most outstanding items on our files is reaching out to feed the malnourished. This season, we have identified about 44 cases of children urgently needing nutritional support. Glad we realized this just in time! We have been able to give out essential food supplies ranging from soya porridge, packaged milk and silver fish. Currently we are witnessing a progressive change in the lives of these very dear children. Mpanga Wasswa and Safina Namukoma are some the children benefiting from this program. They are getting heathier and stronger each day!!!
Also we are glad to report that parents are now responding to this by giving food suplies to Mt. Zion and Kisega schools. This is a good sign! You too can feed a child...

EPILESPY - A BIG CHALLENGE

2010-08-05T03:16:00.000-07:00

parents waiting for epilespy medication in wabwoko

A few epilepsy stories, it is sad to see the amount of children who are suffering with epilepsy, last month alone we hosted a clinic for 120 kids in Wabwoko, and in Namakandwa we hosted a clinic for around 90 kids. On average we seeing 200-250 kids a month who need epilepsy medication.

Why so many children needing epilepsy medication?

Over the years we have seen more epilepsy cases than we ever imagined. In Uganda one of the major causes we are finding of epilepsy is due to malaria. Many people may have never realized that malaria has an impact on a children’s brain and can lead to epilepsy. I would say that 80% of all cases we see is due to untreated or prolonged malaria. This is not a scientific or medical explanation but a cause we have found through experience and hearing many stories.

Why do we need to provide epilepsy medication?

Time and time again visiting different medical clinics as spring of hope we have found that medical facilities are not providing epilepsy medication and the knowledge of epilepsy is very limited. Some time ago I came across a child who had epilepsy and I was asked to help as the child kept spending time in a local hospital the only treatment the child was getting was a drip of medication. Then when the child went home and the child was then given no medication. The child was having seizures again, so they asked me to soh to help provide medication. The child’s life changed completely. One tablet changed a child’s life!!

Through research and the above experience we realized we needed to do something, so now we host two clinics a month alongside two health centers giving out epilepsy medication. The cues of people we see on those days its crazy!! People cue jump so that they do not have to wait in line!!

A case study written BY Eva Nabukalu who is a SWASA (SOCIAL WORK ADMINISTRATION STUDENT) AT KYAMBOGO UNIVERSITY). (some more case studies too come soon)

Name of child: Namuseolko Halmia
Age 8
Father’s name: Musis Mubarak
Occupation police man
Village Bulawoko 13
Parish Nkoko Njeru
Sub county Wabwoko

Halmia’s story

A case study of a child who had epilepsy and was abandoned by the parent.

Walusimbi Asuman was born normal, at three years he got cerebral malaria. The parents took him to the hospital (Mulago hospital) and was given treatment but there was no improvement. Then after some months, the child got epilepsy and was abandoned by the parents, then was taken by the grand mother who was very old and financially unstable.

At the age of 2 years old Halmia started to have seizures, and was then was taken to Nkoko Njeru Hospital for medical treatment. She was then given some injections and treatment which didn’t work as they were not continuous. She went home and had seizures again. Recently she came into contact with our clinic in Wabwoko and is now at the point of having epilepsy medication on a regular basis and is now starting to see a little improvement but it is a long journey before she see’s total improvement.

Challenges that the student faced:

• There was language barrier since the parents could not understand English, there fore there need for translation.

• Failure to express the cause of the problem. In this case, the parent could only freely express the root cause of the child’s suffering. This was another problem since it was not easy for the student to find out the real background of the child’s suffering.

• There was limited literature on how to deal with counseling of epileptic cases.

ACHIEVEMENTS.
• The student was able to solve the client’s problem when using the problem solving processes like problem definition, evaluation, termination and referral for medication. This greatly changed the life of the child and the student’s field work training at large.

• The student learnt how to associate with different people in the community and this was through the use of different communication skills like listening, observation and communication skills.

• There was promotion of unity and rapport between the student and the client. This was as a result of interacting and use of the interpersonal skills and at the end, it promoted trust by the client which is yet an achievement.

FUN FUN BUT STILL THERAPY

2010-07-23T06:23:00.000-07:00

peeling and counting Matooke

Today Tuesday 13th of June, Emma and I went out home visiting, Emma works in the area of activities of daily living, in the Uk it would be called person centered planned care. The idea is all about how we can children to be able to live an Independent a life as possible in their own homes and communities. This can often by helping a child to be able to learn to peel Matooke or wash their own clothes. Sorry no washing machines here in the village, people are lucky if they get power. Often it can be teaching a child to play and interact with other children or something as simple as counting and coloring in a picture.

The first child we visited was Josephine Namitala who has Cerebral palsy, she is now around 12-14years old and spring of hope has been working with her for the last 3years.

cutting and counting the Matooke

Our aim is to spend around 1hr minimum with each child, we started with peeling matooke and then cutting the matooke into small pieces which was a great eye, hand coordination exercise. Josephine then counted the matooke and picking it up between her fingers piece by piece, the concentration on her face was amazing. She kept picking the pieces of matooke and putting into my hand and then picking it up again, even though it was challenging for her to do. We both had fun doing this together, we were counting in luganda. Unlike me she is able to count to 20 in luganda, I get stuck counting from 1 – 10 in luganda, I liked the way Josephine taught me how to count in luganda. We then did a little object recognition, Emma showed her an object and then Josephine explained what the object was. The last activity we did was coloring in some pictures. Josephine struggles to move on from one activity to another, she is great at concentrating but then becomes so carried away by the activity she doesn’t want to move onto the next activity. Before leaving Josephine we worked on the alphabet, we practiced the placing the letters in the right place and remembering how things go together.

practicing the alphabet

We then moved to visit Martin, martin lives in Nazigo which is a village a little nearer to Kangulumira than Josephine’s place so we passed their on the way back to the office. Martin is now living with his grandmother due to his mother walking out on him, his father lives near and see’s him daily. Martin was sad the day we went as the previous sat she had visited. He sadly understands what had happened, sadly as he is very angry boy towards his mum who is moved in with another man. He said that day he didn’t know his mum, as he is so hurt towards the behavior she shown towards his father.

oh what fun, therapy and playing with a car

We started with singing the alphabet, who said learning had to be boring??? From that we went on to work with the foam letters. At first we concentrated on placing three and saying three letters. A-B, by the end of this time we were able to go up to H!! Ever since Martin had his legs plastered again he has some challenges with his hands so we have been working his eye hand coordination. I sometimes forget until I am out on the field how play can be so developmental. Martin like most boys like cars, so we worked on his fine motor skills using the cars by picking them up and putting down again and rolling them along the ground. He liked the car which looked like a fire engine, I think Emma was a like disappointed Martin didn’t think it looked like a hummer. So we left with the car to practice and play with, we then moved onto working with the phone in area of hand eye coordination. Martin had fun with us that morning, and when we left he was a little happier. We see martin is now developing well, we have been talking to his grandmother about martin going to school. Martin’s grandmother feared that martin would struggle. But we see even though martin struggles with his hands he is a very bright boy who has a lot of potential and go far under the right environment. We are currently for a sponsor for martin to go to school.

SHAMA STELLA

2010-07-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

Stella was born on the 21^st of September 2005; she is now making five years old this year. Stella was born without any known disability. At three months old life changed for her, her head started too grow. At the age of 6 months old it was suggested that she visited Mbale hospital for treatment. She was thought to of had hydrocephalus (water on the brain).

When she came home from Mbale, it was noticed at a clinic run by soh (spring of hope) that Stella had developed deformities due to poor positioning of her lower body. She was then referred to Katalemwa for where she started to have her legs worked on through pop (Plaster of Paris). The pop was working well, until she went back the third time. Which is when she got wounds on her legs; this led her to treat the wounds for four months. Her legs were evidentially straightened to the point she was able too start too walk.

At three years old she learnt to walk, before that she was only able to sit. She is now developing well but she is still having some challenges with her mobility. Stella is hoping to start school next year.

From Broken back, too business

2010-06-02T08:34:00.001-07:00

Musa is a young man who was able to walk until he was 9 years old, one day like all young boys do he went off and climbed a mango tree. He fall out of the tree onto his back and the beginning he didn't mention anything too anyone. His friends told his parents, and his friends took him to a local hospital where he was referred to Uganda's national referral hospital in Kampala called Mulago. The doctors tried but couldn't do anything for him. He was told they couldn't help him walk again. After three months in hospital he came home, until he met SOH he had many problems with bed sores. Now his life has changed for the better, and his bed sores are being maintained.

Since 2005 he has been receiving support from SOH, SOH has been able to assist in the area of pressure sore care. There is now a great improvement in this area, he now has a wheelchair, a large mattress and thanks too a volunteer Emlylee Pinero he now has an income generating business (IGB) of mending shoes. Through the IGB he has been able too buy himself a bed; he is planning to buy himself a cow very soon. It is exciting too see that he is becoming an independent young man with a bright future. We would like too see that he has a tricycle so that he does not need someone too push his chair too his business. It is amazing too see how far this young man come, as SOH we feel after we have bought him a tricycle (450,000= £150) we would of finished our job with him as the family is now able too maintain the pressure sores.

Nakato's transformation

2010-05-31T00:08:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the 25th of May, I had the privilege of going too Wabwoko home visiting with Moses our Occupational therapist. One of the children we saw that day was Nakato the last time I saw Nakato was when she had sores all over her head and was very different to how she is now.

This is Nakato’s story of transformation:

Nakato’s mother had a normal pregnancy and labor, three days after birth Nakato had a severe fever and flu. Nakato is a twin and her twin Waswa is developing well as you can see in the photo. Nakato was taken was to local clinic with syrup and after treatment was ok. Two months later her mother realized that Nakato head was growing in size in abnormal way, a stranger to the family suggested she visited to find an organization called spring of hope at the Wabwoko health center. Nakato’s mother came to the clinic, when the child came she had pressures sores all over her head and her hair was yellow instead of the natural black due to malnutrition. Nakato’s mum was taught basic education on pressure sure care and handling skills. She was advised to visit a hospital which could carry surgery on the head, which was growing due to water on the brain (hydrocephalus). After surgery the child is now doing well and she child’s head no longer has pressure sores on it. The hair is at a good color and her weight has increased, Nakato is learning too sit with help. Even though her body is still floppy there is a chance for her too have an amazing future and develop well as she was treated at a young age for hydrocephalus.

Clinic Communty

2010-03-13T09:33:00.000-08:00

I walked to the back room at the Clinic in Kanguumira Sub County on Friday March 5th, where all the “special services” are rendered, and I see something really unique. As a Spring of Hope Volunteer I remember being briefed about this room. This is where all the non-Epileptic special needs children wait with a parent, where they get assessed, where they would get casts put on or casts removed. But no one told me that this is where the community happens! No one told me that this is where the parents meet and sit and share with other parents who are going through the same things they are. I do not have to speak Lugandan to recognize when two moms are connecting and talking while holding their disabled children. All I had to do is watch to when Martin, a eight year old with Cerebral Palsy reaches out and holds the hand of Robert, a three year old who also has Cerebral Palsy and developed blindness. I am so thankful that these children can receive the assessments and physical therapy they need as well as see a doctor but this clinic is so much more. This is a place of support, a place of lasting relationships, a place of overwhelming community.

Experiencing the Zoo

2010-03-13T08:21:00.001-08:00

Culture tells us that everyone is going to be miserable in this weather. No one wants to walk around all day and look at animals all day in the rain right?

"God, You are bigger then the weather, bigger then our plans and bigger then our attitudes. Lord, I give it all to you". We prayed as the taxi pulled up and the phone rang. “The children are here”.

Sixteen deaf children, two hearing children and two teachers from two different schools got off of the bus and my greeting was not nearly as exciting as one of the many free walking monkeys that came right up to them. Rain or shine those children all came with a sparkle in their eyes and a smile on their face.

The children hoped, skipped, jumped and ran from the otter, to the lions, to the rancorous’, to the gorilla’s and so many more their excitement and enthusiasm never wore off.

After our guided tour though the animals the children all ran to see a large park. “Go ahead” the teachers signed and all the children immediately found the swing sets, since they did not know how to play with the rest of the Jungle Gym. The Spring of Hope volunteers and Teachers led the children in learning how to play with the equipment.

God could have stopped the rain, and even though he chose not to, the teachers, us in Spring of Hope and most importantly the children had a day they will never soon forget.

Counting pills for Clinic

2010-03-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

1, 2, 3, 4, 5 the monotony of counting pills can seem to be one lesser glorious jobs when you work with special needs children. ,6,7,8, 9 10 I once told someone, “All I want to do is hold children”, as I look out the window I can see all the children lined up at the clinic waiting to be seen and I wonder why I’m not with them. 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 I could be making a child smile, laugh, or… I could be handing out pills. 16, 17, 18, 19, 20 these pills are so much more than just round masses of a mixture of chemicals, they have something to give, they have something to represent, they are so much more. They are health. 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, Lord, Thank you for giving me the such an important job, thank you for giving me the opportunity to provide individuals in the community with the medication that could ease their pain or reduce their seizures. 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, “rather you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God”. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35

In january we recieved a total of 87 children at our Namakandwa clinic and february we recieved a total of 86, in wabwoko we recieved 94 in january and in februrary we recieved 96. This has meant that our budget has doubled from 270,000(80) to 400,000 ugsh (130) the need is too much and the cost of medication is going higher!! Please think and pray if there is way you get involved!!

Life Skills With Herbet

2010-03-02T00:30:00.000-08:00

Herbert is a vibrant, energetic, spirited eight year old little boy. His eyes light up when we come to see him and he leads us by the hand behind his house to see his pig. Although Herbert has Down syndrome and cannot speak he will grab my hand and make sounds as if he wants to tell me so much. Although he has poor motor planning and auditory thought processing when he was visited by Spring of Hope he was taught to bathe himself; he loved scrubbing his belly and kept going back to it over and over again when he was told not to forget his arms, his legs and other areas as well. After the bath he was assisted in washing his own shirt, I saw the water turn brown by the dirt from his shirt, and then I shifted my gaze to the Herbert’s mother, who was smiling and shaking her head. At that moment I knew that this was so much more then washing a shirt; this is empowering a child, this is giving one mother a break, this is one more step in the towards independence. This is hope.

Deaf Awareness Week 2009 “New Steps School” Spring of Hope

2009-11-24T02:26:00.000-08:00

I am happy to announce, for the first time, Spring of Hope’s School for the Deaf got to be a part of the Uganda National Association of the Deaf (UNAD) awareness week September 22nd -25th. This was a week of celebration for the deaf culture in Uganda, and it was a time to declare the rights of deaf people in this country and all over the world. For Emma, Geoffrey, Falida and Ruth, four of our deaf kids in “Spring Of Hope”, this was a time of hope, encouragement, and finding their true identity in this world. Not only did they get to experience the world outside their village and outside the school walls, but they got to meet and connect with other adults who are deaf.
The first day we went to a hospital where a few of the UNAD members taught the nurses and doctors basic sign language. Later on the kids got to watch videos in Sign language, and receive a shirt with the UNAD logo. We took the kids to a restaurant in the evening where they got to chose what they wanted to eat along with a soda. On this day the kids got to experience the real hustle and bustle of Kampala, and learn to steer clear of cars when crossing the street.
On the second day we all helped out with community service by cleaning up the town in central Kampala. It was great for the kids to see that when they work together towards a common goal that they can make a difference. Later on that day the deaf committee of UNAD put up a huge tent in Central Kampala and explained to the hearing people of Uganda what deaf culture is and that even though they are deaf they are not stupid. They can communicate just as well as hearing people by using their hands to talk and their eyes to hear. It was encouraging to see the hearing people of the community get involved with the deaf culture. You could really see on their faces they wanted to learn and know more, so when the deaf people started teaching some signs the people where really excited to learn.
On the Third day we took the kids to a museum which emphasized the history of the different tribes in Uganda. It was a blessing also that Steven, one of our deaf friends, decided to join us because as we would go to each hut in the museum he would explain to the kids the history of each tribe. Later on that day we went to the deaf sports event were we watched basketball, football (soccer) and netball (volleyball). We left early from there because we wanted to take the kids out for ice cream. I think they liked the ice cream, however, they were complaining that it was too cold to eat. I think that’s funny, I never really thought about how cold ice cream was or maybe I am just used to that temperature being put into my mouth whereas they probably have never tasted anything that cold in their life. Every night at the hotel my goal was to get the girls to bed at a good time, however talking before we went to sleep always had to happen, but it was good because I got to know them better through signing and gesturing. The last day we all gathered in a line and we marched through Kampala promoting Deaf Awareness Week. We had a band playing music in the front and other groups of the deaf community were holding up their banners such as a deaf schools, organizations or clubs. By the time we got done marching we all were hot, tired and thirsty. We went to the main event later where they had different important people speak from the World Federation of the Deaf (WFOD), and also we got to experience the Ugandan deaf drama and their cultural dances. After we ate dinner we all went back home to Jinja.
I believe that this experience was one that the kids will never forget! Not only did they get to see a new district and a different way of living they also got to learn that they do have a place in this world and through that finding their true Identity. Just the other day I showed them pictures of their time in Kampala, and it really made them excited as they reminisced with one another about different events that happened. By showing these pictures to them it also gave them an opportunity to show and explain to the other deaf kids in the school what they did in Kampala. Later on there will be an opportunity for all the deaf kids to get together and share stories for their parents at the end of the school term.

2009-10-22T02:53:00.001-07:00

Josephine is a 12 year old girl who was born normal, however when she was a baby she got sick with malaria for 3 months; from that sickness she developed Cerebral Palsy (CP). Her mother took her to local clinics and hospitals, but none where helpful. After going to one last hospital in Kayunga they were directed to Spring of Hope (SOH).
Before SOH started working with Josephine in 2005 she was unable to do anything physically; now she is able to crawl, sit, feed herself, and bathe on her own! SOH made a walking stabilizer for her to practice strengthening her legs and for stabilization while bathing. Hopefully as SOH continues working with Josephine we will see consistent improvement both physically and mentally.

Martin

2009-10-22T02:26:00.000-07:00

Martin is an eight year old little boy who was born premature. He couldn’t be taken to the hospital and put in a warming machine, so his mother covered him with a blanket instead. Martin was healthy until he contracted malaria at the age of three. Two months later the malaria had caused cerebral palsy (CP); deforming his arms and legs. He was admitted into several hospitals but none of them could help with this disorder.
Spring of Hope (SOH) started working with Martini when he was 5 years old. The first step they took was to have him fully cased for one year. Now Martin is able to sit and walk with help. SOH is now working with him using exercises that focus on mutability, communication, and balancing while sitting. Martini has shown encouraging growth since SOH first started working with him.

Adia

2009-10-22T01:55:00.000-07:00

Adia is a 10 year old little girl who was born with Cerebral Palsy (CP). She is among the oldest of 9 children in her family, but still looks like an infant. In August of 2009 she was infected with malaria; inflicting sores and swelling all over her body. Adia is unable to feed herself so her mother has to soften her food to feed her gradually.
Spring of Hope (SOH) has been working with Adia for two years. At first she was much smaller and unable to complete any physical tasks. Now Adia is able to sit up on her own and SOH is providing nutritious food so her body will develop to a healthy size. At this time we are searching for a sponsor for Adia so (SOH) can continue providing her with the care she desperately needs. Please pray for Adia as she grows that God will touch her right where she is at and wrap her in his arms of protection
If you or anyone one you know is looking to find a child to sponsor please consider Adia as you pray for God’s direction in this process. Together with Christ we can save children all over the World one child at a time. Let’s make a difference in the hearts of God’s children TODAY!

AZURUHAMU TOM

2009-10-08T02:28:00.000-07:00

Tom was born a normal child in a small village of Nanzungi in Kyerima parish kitimbwa sub county. At age 3months he had severe malaria and was admitted in the hospital for 2months. After the treatment the mother realised that the child had become weak and had poor neck control. They have visited several hospitals and have been told on several occasions that Tom's brain had been damaged by the malaria he got at three months. Soh started working with Tom on the 29-jan- 2009. Currently we have been able to get Tom to walk with support of a walker and also being able to control the seizures he has been having for the last 3years.
Our current focus is on getting Tom be able to walk and develop Functional skills to be as independent as we had make him to become.

Old wheelchair = New Commode!

2009-07-29T08:07:00.000-07:00

Working in the community without necessary equipment is always as challenge! This week we were challenged by Nassar, a 14 year-old-boy with Muscular Dystrophy who is slowly becoming weaker due to his condition. At our home visit, the parents explained to us that toileting is becoming an issue and they can no longer hold him over the toilet (a hole in the ground). Due to him not holding any weight on his legs anymore, they were simply sitting him on the ground to use the toilet. Knowing that this is a hygienic issue, Moses and I needed to be creative and make a commode for Nassar from supplies around the house. After a few minutes of looking for nails and trees to make something from scratch, we saw an old wheelchair made out of a plastic lawn chair and wheels hanging from the roof of their house. It was broken and not being used by Nassar anymore. After almost an hour of finding the necessary tools to pull it apart and cutting a hole in the middle of it with a Panga (a large knife used for cutting wood), we were able to construct a commode for Nassar to use! It was great to know that something that would have been put in the garbage back home was a useful piece of equipment in the community. The parents were very excited to know that this would prevent them from sitting Nassar on the dirty ground and promote his independence. It showed me that when there is a will, there is a way and this team is incredible at thinking outside of the box!

Returning to Kangulumira...

2009-07-23T13:03:00.000-07:00

Returning to Uganda this summer has evoked a variety of emotions in me. Being greeted by the team with warm hugs and recognizing the families and children has made me feel “at home” in a very short period of time. There are a few changes that are super exciting. The new SOH centre in Kangulumira is absolutely wonderful! It is beautifully decorated and has ample space to treat children on a regular basis. Having a home base for the team for meetings, paperwork, and treatment is a real blessing! Some of the children have made great gains and some have regressed due to illnesses and untreated epilepsy. This is the devastating part. After going through my photos with the team, I realized that there was a substantial number that are now deceased a year later. I assumed when returning, that some children would pass away due to their complicated medical histories but not to this alarming number. Unfortunately the causes were mostly due to untreated illnesses and malnutrition. After spending some time thinking about this horrific tragedy, I came to think about the wonderful work that SOH is doing and how much they need the support and prayers of fellow Christ-followers. The SOH team works very hard to try to ensure these children have a higher quality of life than they had previously. I am truly blessed to be able to work with such an amazing team and know that God is using their strengths and abilities to serve those in need. Proverbs 14:31 says “He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God” Thanks Moses, Charles, Teresha, Mawazi & Emma for your hard work and reaching out to the needy!
Melanie Gushnowski, Returning Canadian Volunteer

A hard clinic in Wabukwa

2009-07-10T20:15:00.000-07:00

We hard another clinic in Wabukwa this month. It seems to be a very impacted area with a lot of needs including epilepsy medication and nutrition needs. Jonathan gave a talk on nutrition. We saw a girl who was 3 days old and was born with her knee joints backwards. Her mother brought her to our clinic day before she even took her to a hospital or doctor. We had to refer her to an organization that does surgeries for kids with physical disabilities. We also saw a girl with hydrocephalus with VERY severe pressure sores on both sides of her head from laying on her side too much. The mother was educated on how to prevent and heal the pressure sores last month, but she came back this month, and the sores were even worse. The mother has 3 other small children and her husband died, so she was saying she didn't have enough time to make sure her daughter wasn't putting pressure on the side of her head. We really had to emphasize the importance on allowing these wounds to heal. Another hard thing about the clinic was that a girl had a severe seizure during it. It's sad to think about because she was having the seizure due to lack of medication, and they were at the clinic, so that she could get the epilepsy medication.
Needs are being met at the outreach clinic, but some of the needs during this week seemed so big.. and Spring of Hope can only do so much with their limited financial resources.

Diagnosis

2009-07-09T06:53:00.000-07:00

Something that has been new to me is that many times, Moses and I have had to diagnosis a child with a disability based on our expertise. In West, a medical doctor will diagnose a child, and then refer them to the OTs. Unfortunately, it doesn't usually work that way in Uganda. For several reasons.. the people in the village many times will take their child to the witch doctor first to be healed.. when that doesn't work then they may go to a hospital or medical clinic or come to Spring of Hope. Medical records aren't kept very religiously, so even if a diagnosis was made the family may not know what it is.
Therefore at the outreach clinics or drop-in days at the office, many new children come. It is important for us to know the birth history and past medical history in order to make an accurate decision on why we think this child has a disability. In some cases, the child was just given to the grandparent and the parents have no contact with her- so birth history and/or complications with pregnancy can also be unknown. It's quite a tedious and sometimes frustrating process. Basically what I'm seeing is that these children are being born.. and they either get sick shortly after birth or possibly at birth.. and it is not treated until much later, which causes more harm to the child. It seems that people here need to be better informed on the urgency of treatment for various illnesses. Spring of Hope does do that, but most of the time the damage has already been done once they have been brought to Spring of Hope. Many families complain that they do not have the money for transport or medical fees, so that is why they wait this long. I feel fortunate for living in the U.S. with systems like medicaid that would provide for those needs.. unfortunately, that would not solve Uganda's problems. Instead we will work to increase awareness... ignorance leads to poverty and vice versa.

Meeting basic needs

2009-07-04T02:29:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, Moses and were doing home visits around the village. On one of our last visits, we met a girl who was 5 years old, but looked small enough to be nearly 2 yrs old. (pictures to come) Her grandmother who takes care of her told us that she has been sick with Malaria and the flu and has not been eating. Her face was so small and her body was skin and bones. She was so fragile to touch and very weak. Her black hair was beginning to turn a shade of yellow from malnourishment. She was very weak as well, and her muscles were very stiff from lying in the same position for long periods of time.

This is one of those situations that I had to step back from my mindset of therapy and really determine how to meet the basic needs of these children. Most of the children are very dirty and unclean, dressed in worn and ripped clothing (if clothing at all). This child in particular was very malnourished. In order to help improve their quality of life, we have been delivering some children's clothing and providing some porridge and education on feeding and nutrition. Once the child's basic needs are met, then we can start to look at different activities of daily living and strengthening/mobility exercises.

Autism

2009-06-30T06:11:00.000-07:00

Today Moses and I (Kristin, the American OT) went on some home visits in the village. One of the girls we visited was about 5 years old and nonverbal. Moses told me she has a history of having very frequent seizures. He also described some behaviors to me that her grandmother was concerned about: She doesn't like to play with other kids, she refuses to be toilet trained, does not follow directions, and gets upset very randomly without warning and has a hard time getting calmed down. To me, this child appears just as the children I work with in the U.S. in the Autism classroom. I explained to Moses the importance of structure and visual cues. We also brainstormed an idea of how to make a swing from one of the branches of tree in their yard because the vestibular motion of a swing can be very calming for someone with autism. The child continues to have frequent seizures, and i am unsure of the correlation between autism and seizures, but it would be interesting to learn more about. In the U.S. there is medication very readily available for a child who has a seizure, and spring of hope is making this medication more readily available for the children.. however, finances still continues to be a large barrier. Getting the medication to the child (transportation costs) and getting the medication (cost of medicine).
I could tell that it was discouraging for Moses because there a little resources in this country for children like this girl. In the U.S. we have entire classrooms with sensory toys and picture schedules, staff that are trained, and very regimented routines for these children. Uganda is not ready to be at a place to support these children in schools, so right now our role is to brainstorm to help the parents support these children at home. We must be creative.

Pictures and videos will be added later to these posts.. I'm having difficulty doing so due to the size of the files and the internet speed. My apologies!

Schools in the village

2009-06-27T02:32:00.000-07:00

This week I had the chance to visit the secondary school, and the school for the deaf children with Charles. I spoke with the headmaster for a little bit about children with disabilities at the school. He seemed very open to having children with disabilities at their school, but was honest in that not many were trained and equipped to handle it. Schools consist of wooden bench desks, dirt floors, brick walls, and one chalkboard. Students may have one writing utensil and a small notebook. The secondary school had 3 classrooms, with 3 different levels of students. One level was studying English, the other geography, and the other chemistry. The students there appeared very well disciplined and respectful. The headmaster did indicate that there was trouble keeping the student numbers up due to students getting sick and not having enough money for school fees. They had about 72 students at the secondary school, and 3 teachers, but the teachers were not there full time.
The school for the deaf children was quite interesting. Ugandan sign language and American sign language have some similarities, so I was able to communicate with the kids and learn some more signs as I went along. The students at that school also stay sleep there. Some of them were born deaf and others had become deaf due to diseases like Malaria or syphilis. Several of the students were orphans, which was very sad, but also encouraging that the school gave them a place to go. The resources are very bare there. One chalkboard and a few posters of the sign alphabet. Students sleep in a very small room in bunks, but they don't seem to know life any differently and are grateful for the love and attention given to them by the teachers and staff there. There were many students missing that day at the school because they had gone to a village to have a soccer/futbol/football competition with other schools. The students have found ways to express themselves and have learned how to communicate more effectively using sign language, but more education is needed for them to progress further. They were a joy to be around!

A day out in the village

2009-06-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

Transportation is definitely taken for granted in the U.S. When out doing Home visits with Spring of Hope, we have to travel some distances to the villages where the kids are. Some require two taxis and and a boda (motor bike). However, when reaching the family, I have realized that it is much easier for us to travel to them then for them to come to us. Most of these families cannot afford to pay for transportation. They have all been very grateful to the SOH team members that come. The pictures taken were of a boy who developed a mixture of low and high tone after a bout of Malaria. I am finding that Malaria is a very BIG cause of the disabilities from the children that we have been working with. Malaria is a very treatable disease when caught in time. Unfortunately, most of these families do not have the means or possibly knowledge to take the children to a medical clinic in time. I asked Emma what people do to prevent Malaria, and he told me that the best way to prevent it is to sleep under a mosquito net. Mosquito nets are available to buy in town, but I'm not sure how many people actually use them.. especially those who live in the villages.

Using the resources available

2009-06-17T10:09:00.000-07:00

Experiences from Kristin's perspective (An occupational therapist from the U.S.)

This week, I have had some opportunities to do some home visits with various members of the Spring of Hope team. It's been a huge learning experience because of the cultural differences and norms of what is in homes in villages in Uganda compared to what is in homes in the United States. The roles of children are also very different culturally, so that completely changes what I am used to in my job! Luckily, Moses (the occupational therapist on the SOH team) showed me a book that he had called "Make it in the Community," which is a guide on how to construct adaptive equipment with items found in rural villages. It gave me a little bit of a better idea of how to work on a very minimal budget.

There are three examples of children I want to share about that have taught me a great deal:
1) A girl named Josephine - Josephine has Cerebral Palsy. Her legs were casted because they were internally rotating. She is another one who has made a lot of progress. She is working on walking independently. Parallel bars were constructed for her in front of her home. She practices on these several times/day. Parallel bars made out of large sticks were quite impressive to me! I was also amazed that they seemed quite stable. This apparatus is a great use of natural resources.. You won't find these in the West!

2) A boy called Emma. He has epilepsy and has not been getting medication. He has high tone in his arms, and has gotten extremely weak in his legs. He can no longer stand or kneel. He also has a hard time sitting because he gets tired from holding his head up. He really needs to begin by increasing his trunk strength, so we can gradually get him strong enough to stand and kneel. Because this situation needed a quick fix, and could not wait for a special chair to be made - Mawazi and I constructed a seat for him out of Banana leaf trees in their yard behind their home. This seat will give him more stabilization and allow him to build up some of his trunk strength, so he can gradually work up to being able to use his legs again.

3) A girl called Naume. This girl has made so much progress since Spring of Hope started seeing her several years ago. It was encouraging to read about all she has accomplished. She is walking on her own, and now needs to address some activities of daily living. The family was encouraged to have her start working on independence in dressing. Children in this culture are responsible for daily chores, so we brainstormed some activities/chores that she could help with. The picture here shows her practicing using a broom to do some sweeping. This activity can be very good for her because it is purposeful and it helps her to work on strength, mobility, and balance.

Outreach Clinic in Wabukwa

2009-06-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

Friday, June 12, 2009
The Spring of Hope team arrived Wabukwa, and there were many women and children waiting for us. We brought along along two professionals that had an expertise in Epilepsy. The morning was spent educating the people on what exactly epilepsy is, what causes it, what can be the effects of it, and how to treat someone with it. This session appeared very informative to the people that came. There seems to be a stigma around Epilepsy in the villages. People will take their children with epilepsy to Witch Doctors to heal them. They also think that some sort of witch craft or worms in the brain are causing them to have seizures. I think that increasing awareness of Epilepsy and education is such an important thing for these people, and I know it will spread by word of mouth, especially because the number of cases of epilepsy appear to be quite high. Epilepsy can actually be caused by Malaria, which is why there are many cases. Children can function quite well with this, but do need medication. Spring of Hope has started providing people with this medication in the villages. Over 76 children were treated and seen for epilepsy medication at the outreach clinic in Wabukwa that day. Instead of giving the medication for free, parents were asked to pay very little money (1000 USH) for the medications. It is important to teach the parents to take responsibility for their children's health.
During the clinic, children were also seen for malnutrition and developmental disabilities. The children who are malnourished are quite easy to point out because their hair starts to turn yellow. Some parents had concerns about feeding their children. The occupational therapists assisted them with showing the parents different positions that may help with feeding. Parents were given strategies on positioning their child to prevent and/or decrease the occurrence of bedsores (pressure ulcers). The occupational therapists also provided parents with various stretching and exercises to help with physical development (i.e. head control).

All in all, it was a very successful clinic in Wabukwa. Children were treated, parents were educated, and more needs are being met in the villages. It was eye opening for me (Kristin, the occupational therapist from the U.S.A) because it was my first clinic and first week here in Uganda. The resources they have in their homes are sooo limited and there is little awareness and acceptance of children with disabilities. It is very easy to be saddened by these cases, but I am impressed in SOH's ability to stay strong and make some changes. I do think that Spring of Hope has been doing good work in increasing awareness and changing the attitudes of people. I am definitely encouraged, and the glory is to God!

Mpanga Waswa's storty

2009-05-21T07:56:00.000-07:00

Name Mpanga wasswa
Age 4yrs
Village wabukwa
Condition Hydrocephalus

My story

I was born normal, after one day I started to have serious fevers and I was admitted into a health centre. I continuously got fevers, after around 2 months my mother took me to an organization called Spring Of Hope and when they were looking at me they saw my head was growing what they said this they told me to visit a place called Mbale cure hospital. At this hospital they found me help which changed my life. My head has stopped growing, and I am learning to sit, and weight bear in standing position, I have never really liked to use my right hand so I am learning to use this. Today I was standing in this thing called a standing frame. Apparently the standing frame was made in Kangulumira town. The nice people who work there have given me a special chair to sit in; it’s made a real difference to my life.

What I like about soh is my family is being trained to do the standing exercises etc so I can do them at home, and they are also being trained on how to carry out different activities which will help to live independent life.

A word from Charles our education worker A move up in education

2009-05-20T08:22:00.000-07:00

It was indeed a blessing for spring of hope ministry in the area of education for children who are deaf and their teachers. When their teachers did their final exams in sign language from UNAD (Ugandan national association of the deaf) on the 12^th of may 2009.

This was precious time of preparations after the teachers studied for almost 2yrs. 11teachers from 2 schools new steps Natrubi and Kisega Parents School, where soh take their children with disabilities for schooling had a great time doing the national exams.

The teachers had to complete practical exams and a day of theory, Olivia the matron

of our boarding unit at New Steps received the highest marks. The teachers should receive their certificates next month. We are currently preparing another group of 16 teachers from the two schools as well as a third school in Bukeeka. After receiving the certificates the teachers have an option of doing an additional months training with UNAD then they can become sign language interpreters.

Among other things in the area of education, we are increasing our school sponsors; we know have in total 17 children sponsored. This is an exciting time, time to be able to see children who never been able to attend school before. We are still looking for another opportunity for 30 children to attend school. This year was the first time we were able to send a child to secondary school, when receiving the reports last term from school, we are very exciting to receive Ntogo Freds report, Fred a boy who is physically disabled due to polio is now attending secondary school, out of 134 he was no 17 in his year, that was quite an achievement due to the fact he was 3weeks late for school and it proves that a disability is not an inability.

A PROJECT UPDATE

2009-04-09T04:29:00.000-07:00

Monthly assessment clinics with a physiotherapist
Since before our main work began we have been working with Afaayo children’s rehabilitation centre in Kalagi now on the first week of the month they have been assisting us in assessing the new children we receive. On average we receive between 10-30 new children a month. From here we will see what type of assistance they need such as corrective surgery or physiotherapy. Our aim is to work with children within the Mukono and Kayunga districts, due to the power of word of mouth as we have never mobilized for this clinic we are surprised with the amount of children we receive on a regular basis and the distance they travel. We now have 10 children on our books from Mayuge district.

Rural outreach clinics
In April last year we started a rural clinic in Wabwoko which is north of Kayunga town. Since April last year we have seen an average of 70 children a month, the largest need we have in Wabwoko is epilepsy. We have currently found over 80 children with epilepsy in this area. We have never worked with adults before we are made the decision to work with adults in the area of epilepsy. This is due to amount of cases we found. As well as working with people with epilepsy we are providing occupational and physiotherapy exercises, as well teaching parents and children sign language.

Home visits
This were we go and visit the children and their families at there homes, on average Mawazi and Moses our community field workers visit 90 children a month. Supporting them through physiotherapy exercise and counselling their parents. Our current focus area is Kayunga and Mukono district.

Support in corrective surgery
In the area of corrective surgery we work alongside Afaayo which is where we send our children. Afaayo then support us and send our children on to Katalamwa or the appropriate hospital for surgery. On average we send 30 children to Afaayo a month.

Nutrition program
Currently we are supporting 25 children over two weeks to have additional support with their feeding; we have seen that in the past that by the children having bad feeding even more problems can be created alongside their disability. Now we are supporting with giving children, posho flour, sugar, Soya and sometimes milk a difference is being made to the child.

Daily living skills lessons/ 1:1 education classes
From Tuesday to Friday Emma our child educator goes around visiting the children who have a either a physical disability, learning disability or who are deaf preparing them for school or helping them to learn how to just wash their own clothes. On average Emma sees 7 children a week and we currently have around 20 children on this program so not we try to see the child at least twice a month. This has been an very exciting program Margaret before she started this program was unable to take herself to the toilet now is in school and can take herself to the toilet as well as count to 10 and she is able a lot more confident.

School sponsorship
We are trying to support as many of our children who can go to school to find sponsors, already we have 8 children sponsors for the children. We have 7 who are deaf in school and 2 boys in wheel chairs and we are currently looking for more sponsors. It is exciting to see who far our children have come who are attending school. Especially since these are the children who even their parents believed they could never have a change of an education or be able to learn to count. We currently have a waiting list of 30 children who desire to go to school.

Facilitation of sign language training / Supporting local schools to include disabled children
Every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we work in different schools in the area of sign language training for teachers in Kangulumira Sub County. We are currently supporting three primary schools to learn to support children with disabilities. Within one school New steps Natrubi we have 14 children who are deaf, within another school Kisega primary school we have 22 children disabilities. Charles our schools worker is also supporting the children with disabilities with extra classes. We are hoping to see that more and more schools within Kangulumira Sub County and eventually Kayunga and Mukono district will integrate children with disabilities into their schools. Within the Friday afternoon session we have teachers coming from around 5 other schools to learn sign language. In the school holidays we also hold sign language workshops for our parents with deaf children. In Our last workshop we had 15 parents attend.

Free epilepsy medication and Medication for the child.
Since 2005 we have seen that many of our children have epilepsy, these children have found it difficult to gain additional support for this. Over the past years we have found children that have been to one of the local hospitals and have been put on a drip for some time and then we they have stop having seizures they are sent home and they start having seizures again. This made us aware that we need to provide a service of free epilepsy medication. The price of the medication has also been an hindrance for the families, as for a parent with no regular income to provide 6 tablets a day at 300 a tablet is a challenge. We know have 200 children receiving free epilepsy medication. On a monthly basis we visit the children who have epilepsy to regulate the improvement of there seizures. We are now seeing that our children have stopped having seizures the way they did.

Income generating craft group
In the last 2 years we have seen many talents with our woman of art and making of crafts, this lead us to create a group of 10 parents in where they can concentrate more on making craft items. In the beginning this was just paper necklaces. In 2007 the parents started to learn how to make bamboo items. Over the last two years parents have been able to earn over 1million Ugandan shillings by making craft items. This used to be through an international outlet; now in 2008 they are making produce for a craft shop in Jinja town. Through making necklaces one mother has built a house.

Income generating projects for families
In February 2009, we started a new income generating where we are giving out 30 to 10 families and after six months we will be then passing another 30 chickens to another 10 families. The idea is that each family gives the three chickens back so that another 10 families can benefit. We are planning in May 2009 to give income generating grants to 5 families.

Obtaining specialist equipment
In Kangulumira town, we now have a carpenter who makes special chairs, walking frames and standing frames, which we provide, to the children who are in need of support and if a child needs a wheel chair, we support the family with one. On average we provide between 6-7 items of equipment a month through our carpenter.
Achievements Of Spring Of Hope to date
August 2004 Research into how the communities could be supported to improve the life opportunities of disabled children this included home visits. We started networking with other organizations.
October 2004 Commenced assessment clinics in partnership with Besanyia Mukono
October 2004 Children start having corrective surgery on cleft pallets, club feet, missing digits
November 2004 Partnership with local community leaders, and sensitisation of community
April 2005 Started partnership work with Katalemwa Leonard Cheshire home which provides special equipment for the children
January 2006 One to one child education program starts
April 2006 Play therapy clinic begins based New Zealand on move clinic program
April 2006 Nutrition programme commenced
March- June 06 Initial basic training on challenging behaviour
June 06 Spring of Hope staff are trained as Special Olympic coaches and Leader of Spring Of Hope becomes Special Olympics coordinator for Kayunga district
August 2006 Free medication provided especially for epilepsy
September 2006 Kayunga special Olympics football team in coordination with SOH wins the football national competition
October 2006 Started holding sign language workshops for parents and teachers
November 2006 School sponsorship programme started.
Nov 2006 Ugandan occupational therapist recruited
December 06 Celebration of disabilities day, with march through Kangulumira town and activities on sub county premises
January 2007 Started inclusive education with New Steps Nakirubi school
January 2007 deaf child starts Makindye Hills parents school in Kampala
June 2007 Local carpenter trained to make specialist equipment
June 2007 Income Generating craft project for parents of children with disabilities
October 2007 Two Kayunga children compete in world special Olympics in Shangia Hi China,
February 2008 Started work with Kisega parents school Kangulumira an inclusive education school
April 2008 Partnership with Scripture Union and UNAD (Uganda’s National association of the deaf) begins,
April 2008
Outreach clinic into Wabwoko sub county Kayunga district

May 2008
Implementation of deaf unit, in partner school new steps Natrubi, Currently have 12 children in this unit
June 2008 we start working with Fountain of Hope School Bukeeka
July 2008
Opening of Spring Of Hope office in Kangulumira town, start of drop in days where parents bring their children to
February 2009 Opening of Spring of Hope centre in Kangulumira, implementation of Occupational room and Activities of daily living room
February 2009 Implementation of new income generating project for families of children with disabilities – 30 chickens given out
February 2009 Implementation of Spring of Hope project income generating project for staff and running costs of the project.

For further information on Spring Of Hope please contact:
Teresha Clark 0782539554
Soh_uganda@yahoo.co.uk
YWAM Uganda
PO BOX 739
Jinja
Uganda
www.springofhope.org.uk

2007-09-24T10:00:00.000-07:00

Hi, this is Pip.

I am now finally getting round to posting up some messages to let you all know what is going on here. Sorry it has taken so long!
I have been here almost a month now. Time is flying by!
The team has been working well together (Mawazi, Moses, Emma and Me!) We have been splitting into two groups to go on home visits near and far. More often far! We are trying to reach as many children as possible, but there are so many, which means we only get to see them about once a month.

On the 1st and 2nd Thursdays of the month we have clinics at the the torch clinic in Kangalmira. These have been well attended for assessments and therapeutic playing with the children. However it can be a problem if it has been raining a lot as people are unable to get to the clinic easily. Please pray that parents and children are able to attend when they need to.

Last week Moses and I went to visit Besaniya in Mukono, where some of our children go to if they need orthopedic operations. It is amazing to see the work that goes on there with 'Uncle Paul' the Physiotherapist and the differences that it makes to children with conditions such as cerebral palsy, club feet, muscular dystrophy etc.

On Friday we had a prayer meeting,
Mark 12 v 29 -39
We really felt God was saying that the best thing that we are able to offer these children is love and compassion. It is so important that the parents will love their children, giving them time, food, clothing etc. and not loosing hope.

Some prayer Requests:

That God will give us grace to do the work that is needed
The God will give us love and compassion for the children and parents
That there will be strength and unity within the Spring of Hope team
For healing for children who are in hospital at the moment and are unwell
For financial provision
For protection for us as we travel on long journeys
For Teresha as she spends this time in Brazil

Times of change

2007-08-29T02:28:00.000-07:00

dear friends

we are all well, and for us we have a time of many changes ahead, Teresha is currently on her way to Belo Horinzote in Brazil for three months training on children at risk and Mawazi is running the work on the grass root level work of the project.

These few weeks have been very busy with many vistors starting with friends from Usa and the Uk and then Teresha's family!!

As the Uganda team we have just taken a week of on holiday, with mawazi going to Keny to visit family and then moses being in kampala. This was a well deserved break, and we all feel refreshed!!

This week we are hosting a sign language workshop where we have already had up to 50 parents attend, this has been a busy time but very exciting!!

We have had a few changes to the team, with emma a local young man with Bukeeka Kayunga district joining us for a volunteer for some time and Anette deciding not come to come back after maternity leave!! This is sad for us, but we love her and send off with the heart warmth friendship!!

Today we have an English Physiotheraptist arrive called Pip who will be with us for the next 10 weeks we are looking forward to having her with us!!

ok let me sign off for now, and i wish you all a great week!!
Bless you

The spring of hope team!!!

Who are we?

2007-01-20T04:35:00.000-08:00

Spring of Hope is an organisation that helps disabled children and their families in rural Uganda.

We are a part of Youth With A Mission (YWAM), who are voluntary Christian organisation operating throughout the world.