Sarah was the first baby, who was brought, she was born 2 months too early and her weight was only 1.1 kg. She was laid in our new incubator, which we just received from a Dutch foundation: Verenigde Hoop. We had to feed her by a NG tube, because she was too weak to drink.. She is now 9 days with us and she is doing good, she has gained a little and looks alert. Sarah was born by a caesarean operation and the mother died, due to multi organ failure after the operation. The very sad thing was that Sarah was part of twins, the other baby was a still born and already deteriorated when the baby was taken out. Sarah was brought from a hospital, by ambulance.
The next day, Samuel was brought to Amecet. He was 3 weeks old and this is also a sad story; The mother gave birth while she was in her last phase of having breast cancer. She died in the hospital, when the baby was 3 weeks old. He was her 8th baby. The baby was small, only 2.1 kg, his weight had been 2.6 when he was born. He lost weight and was not able to gain it back in those 3 weeks, By now he is drinking good and he has gained. I think that all the attention went to the dying mother and the baby was lacking nutrients.
The same day that Samuel came, in the evening was Catherine brought. She was referred from another hospital and she was also a preterm baby, born 2 months too early. Her weight was 1.3 kg. She was laid in the same room as baby Sarah. This was also quite a story. Her mother is only 15 years old, she was also born by Caesarean, in another hospital. The mother was not treating her well, the mother lives mostly on the streets and a good Samaritan had brought them in the hospital. She was brought by a nurse and the Police, the mother went back to the hospital for further treatment. Our medical staff, Joanne, saw that the baby was not good, she checked the saturation and this was very low, the baby was put on the oxygen machine and then she checked the HB, which was also very low, with the clinic next door, she was able to organise blood transfusion for the baby. This was all in the evening hours.
The next day the doctor came to check her and the baby went on IV fluids, anti biotics and we stopped the oral feeding, because the tummy was swelling. The baby was very sick. Our medical team was with her around the clock.
The next day, Monday, we went to the clinic where they do X-ray and scans, we had to take the portable Oxygen concentrator with us in the car, because the baby could not go without Oxygen. When we got the results, we had a meeting with the Doctors in the clinic next door and we decided together that we had to bring Catherine to the NIKU room in the main hospital. That is the room where pre-term babies are staying. Catherine would need an operation, there were perforations in her intestines. There would be doctors in the hospital to monitor her. We felt sad, as if we had to abandon her, but this was the best decision... Our Social workers were in search for the grandparents and successful!! The grandmother was coming to be with the baby in the NIKU room, but then we got the sad phone call from the Doctor, Catherine had passed away at the end of the afternoon. The next day I went with the nurses from Amecet and the grandmother to the hospital to pick the body of little Catherine. You see them walking on the picture, in the carton box is the body of Catherine. Simon had ordered a small coffin in the meantime and he brought the grandmother back to her village to bury the baby.
Then the next day again...... 3 little ladies were brought by the Probation Officer from another District. The 3 girls are all from the Karamojong Tribe in the North of Uganda. This is a Nomad Tribe and the children were all taken into custody by the Police in Kampala. There are many children and young girls from this tribe, who are begging on the streets in Kampala. There is a lot of poverty among the Karamojong and many end up in the streets of Kampala, young children like these are used for begging. The Police had done a big operation, to "clean" the streets and had a group of 155 children, the 155 children were brought to the North, where the Karamojong live, the children were all taken to one centre, in a school. The authorities will try to find their parents, who were still hiding in Kampala. The Probation Office asked us to take those 3 precious children, who were malnourished and in need of treatment and care. Most children of the group were older and can survive the centre, but those 3 were sick and weak. We think they are between 15 and 18 months old.
Their names are Scovia (left), Evelyn (middle) and Betty (right) Especially Scovia and Evelyn are sick and very weak. Betty can walk around and is playing. But there was a lot of diarrhoea and vomiting during the last couple of days..... It is going better now, they are on treatment...
Then baby number 7, beautiful baby Rose... She was brought 3 days ago. A nice healthy baby of 5 days old, normal weight and she is drinks good. She even had a nice dream, when the picture was taken, she is smiling...
Rose was born, also by Caesarean operation. Her mother died after the operation, due to severe bleeding. The mother was HIV+, so Rose is given special medicine every day and after 1 month we can take her to the main hospital for a HIV test. It is a beautiful baby and we pray that Rose will be negative..
Then to end on a happy tone.... maybe some of you remember the story in our blog of November 8, 2024. There was a little girl found by the cleaning lady in a lodge, here in Soroti. The little girl was around 1,5 year old and was brought to Amecet. Our social workers have worked together with the Police, trying to find the mother or other relatives, we have put her in the national newspaper, messages over the radio, but all in vain. We got permission from the Probation Office to find a foster family who wants to adopt her after one year. And we found a lovely family and they came to pick her last week!! The Probation Officer was in Amecet to hand Esther to her forever family. It was such a happy time. We got already news about her that she is doing well and she lives now in a mansion in Kampala!! She will have all the chances in life!!!
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Hallo Els, wat een 'avonturen' beleef je toch weer. Bijzondere verhalen, soms verdrietig, maar gelukkig ook veel verhalen met een goed einde.
Hartelijke groet uit Rotterdam.