SUNDAY 16th December 2012
It is 5:30pm and I have one and a half hours to relax before the next festivities!
I was so disappointed last night as I was forcing myself to write this up at 10:30pm when I was hot , tired and exhausted. Baz and I and Sallie had travelled to Kampala in Moses taxi and hit the "jams" before dumping Sallie's bags at her hotel and then we two at a Hairdressing Salon to get our nails done. Baz continued on to dump our bags at our hotel and then picked us up to go to "MISHMASH", our friends Adam and Genevieve's Art Gallery, cafe and general meeting place. Young Doreen met us there and joined us in coffee and cheesecake, bringing me a hat to wear at The Enthronement the next day. Eventually, we returned to our hptel and I unpacked enough clothes for our last three days in Uganda and started to write my Blog. I had almost finished when it flashed and I was asked for my password to sign back in!. So I lost that beautiful Blog!!!!!One reason why I was so tired last night was that the previous day had been draining due to taking Harriet's mum Alice to hospital..And a disco in town had kept me awake most of the night!
Did I tell you that we had misunderstood and it appears that Alice is 35 years old and has TEN children aged between 20 years and 2 months! Here, it is the women who dig the shambas and if you are exhausted by childbearing the family is not going to prosper.When Sallie and I found this out we suggested that Alice be sterilised so on Thursday we sent word that we had arranged the op for her at the Private hospital. You can imagine that when I set out on Friday morning at 7am to see if Charles {Harriet's Dad} had agreed and if Alice was brave enough, it was with my heart in my mouth. When we reached the village we found the whole family sitting under a tree waiting for us dressed in their best So I knew right away that the op was to go ahead.. Teacher George had sent word ahead and was a brick the whole day, translating everything into Runyoro. Harriet gave us a huge grin, recognising us , and Charles instructed his eldest son Linus aged 19 to look after everyone until we got back.
There was a wait at the hospital whilst a vital piece of equipment was sent for .Then, when Alice was asked to sign the consent form I realised that she can't read or write. Charles managed to print his name. Baby Sandra was handed to Charles when Alice went in to prepare for the op and managed to sleep for about an hour. However when she woke up she wanted MILK and I was given her. I must have walked miles up and down the verandah and at this point began to worry if I should have let well alone. The op seemed to be taking ages ---was something going wrong? At this point a lovely old Ward Orderly kindly boiled and cooled some water and we gave it to Sandra to drink......... At last, about two and a half hours later, Alice walked out of the Operating theatre and was taken to rest on a bed in the ward. Immediately she began to suckle her baby and I began to relax. Alice was left to rest for about 4 hours - I popped back to the Hotel because Baz was missing me. George phoned me to go and get them and both Alice and Charles thanked me over and over again. But I am worried that she is not producing enough milk so I sent them back home with some fish to cook and some milk for Alice to drink. She had had to be really persuaded to drink the bottled water I had bought......
Anyway, everyone seems happy and George is considering the same op for his wife. He will keep me informed of Alice's progress and also of what will be best for Harriet. At the moment we are considering splinting her weak leg. I need the expertise here of my sister in law Jan!
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