Filsurfare

This blog post is in Swedish. I might write an English version at some point.

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Nu kommer jag att vara mer personlig än jag brukar vara på nätet. Och kanske lite moraliserande. Jag kan helt enkelt inte låta bli. Så viktigt är det här för mig.

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Min mamma finns inte. Hon gick bort när jag var 2,5 år gammal. I en bilolycka. Kanske är det därför jag har en otroligt stor respekt för trafiken. Ja, jag var med i bilen men jag minns inget förutom sjukhuset efteråt.

Under hela min uppväxt bar jag med mig henne. Mamma. Fantiserade om hur hon skulle vara om hon var där, vilken relation vi skulle ha. Om hur hon skulle hålla mig i sin famn och trösta mig när jag var ledsen. Om hur vi skulle skratta tillsammans. Och så länge jag kan minnas har jag tänkt att jag en dag skulle få barn och bli den mamma jag själv saknade så.

För några veckor sedan hände det. Jag blev mamma till en fantastisk liten varelse. Varje dag förundras jag över hur det har kunnat skapas så perfekta små kroppsdelar i min mage. Ett litet öra. Ett finger. Tio till och med. Näsan. Allt som finns på insidan. Jag är så jäkla lyckligt lottad som får förmånen att lära känna den här lilla människan. Minut för minut, dag för dag. Och jag föreställer mig vår framtida relation. Hoppas att den bli fin.

Fem dagar hade gått sedan födseln och vi åkte till sjukhuset för återbesök och kontroll. Barnets far har för vana att kommentera bilister som vinglar i sin fil och säga att de förmodligen sitter och surfar. Vilket de oftast gör. På den här bilresan var jag upptagen med att sitta och titta på barnet när sambon kommenterar en vinglande bilist i ljusblå bil. Vi hamnar jämsides med bilen och jag tittar. Killen som kör visar sig ha noll händer på ratten och lika många ögon på vägen. Båda händerna och båda ögonen är istället på hans mobiltelefon. Då och då tittar han upp. Förmodligen styr han med knäna. Detta på en flerfilig väg med mycket trafik.

Hormonell och emotionell nybliven mamma som jag är börjar jag genast gråta. Tårarna rinner och jag hulkar hejdlöst.

Den här killen har “makten” att skada. Att döda. Han tror att han har koll men inte sjutton har han det. Hans möjlighet att reagera på plötsliga händelser är kraftigt nedsatt.

Jag gråter. Gråter vid tanken på att han kan köra in i en familj och beröva ett barn någon av dess föräldrar. Eller beröva föräldrarna deras barn. Gråter för att man kan vara så j-a egoistisk att man sitter och surfar mitt i trafiken. Så nonchalant mot sina medtrafikanter. Sina medmänniskor.

Tänker att förhoppningsvis skadar han endast sig själv om något händer. Känner skuld över att jag ens tänker så.

Men helt ärligt.

Vänta med att surfa tills du kommer hem. Det är på liv och död. På riktigt.

 

 

 

 

Jag och mamma

 

 

Building a room

The process of building a room (or house) differs a lot between countries. In Sweden, much time is spent on waiting for approval as quite a lot of legislation concerns this area. In Uganda, once you have the money, it’s obviously done really quickly. Robert was sending me updates continuously and suddenly, after about 20 days of work, the room was done. I got pictures and there it was. The kids were in it, looking really happy and I got goosebumps. Below, you can see some pictures from the process and the finished room.

 

 

March 13, fifth day of working. Robert is helping out.

 

March 15, the roof is taking shape.

 

March 17th. The roof.

 

March 18th. Plastering the walls.

 

March 21st. Getting there.

 

March 24th. Adding windows.

 

March 24th. From the inside.

 

March 29th. Painted and done! Joel checking it out.

 

March 29th. Happy kids!

 

March 29th. One bed in place.

 

Again – a thousand of thanks to those of you who contributed! As you can see, you are making a difference.

A room is founded

I am so, so happy that my fundraising for a bedroom for the boys at VCM reached the target in time. That way, I could send the money in the beginning of March and they could start building the room this week.

I have been getting daily updates on the process and it’s as if a happy child is making little leaps inside of me when I see it. The progress is remarkable and I want to share this with everyone, especially the ones who donated. Your help is very appreciated and here is the receipt so far.

Day 1. The material has arrived and the kids are gathering for a group picture in front of it.

Day 2. Monday March 10. The building begins.

Day 2 continued.

Day 3. It’s really happening.

Day 4. That’s almost a complete wall.

Day 4. The corner.

 

Gone, jiggers, gone

The treatment of the kids who had jiggers is going forward rapidly. It’s wonderful to see how their hands and feet are starting to look normal. These pictures are pure joy.

Thank you so much, Ginter, for giving the support so that the kids and their father could go to the hospital.

 

Treating jiggers

— WARNING FOR STRONG IMAGES —

A while ago, I wrote about two brothers and their father all suffering from jiggers.

Thanks to a caring donor, the family has now started the treatment. This includes extracting the intact insects from their hands and feet. Breaking them can cause infections. When the insects are removed, gaping wounds remain. To avoid other infections, the wounds should be covered.

The home has to be thoroughly fumigated in order to eradicate the jiggers completely and Robert is helping with this.

It hurts when I look at the pictures and at the same time I’m happy because it means the kids are getting rid of the bugs in their hands and feet. If you are sensitive, I would dissuade you to look at them. Or, do as you like. I am sensitive but also curious. I have to look, despite the crawling sensation in my skin. Here goes.

A bedroom for orphans

Already on my first day at Victorious Children’s Ministries, I started wondering about the space at the orphanage. The house didn’t seem that big, where did all the kids sleep? I soon learned the facts.

First of all, this is a family run orphanage. The ground on which the house stands has been in the family for years and the orphanage has only existed since 2009. Extra houses have been built to house an office and a teaching room for the kids. However, the main house is not very big and 20 children are sleeping there.

So, the biggest bedroom is approximately nine (9) square metres. In this space, 15 boys are supposed to sleep in two bulk beds and two other beds. Naturally, despite sharing beds, they don’t all fit. Some sleep on the floor in the room and some of them outside the room.

Sleeping on the floor.

Clothes and beds in the boys’ room.

Personal pictures above one of the beds.

 

The 5 girls are sleeping on the floor in the same room as the mother of the founder. Needless to say, this is quite crowded as well. One effect of the sleeping conditions is that it’s not possible to put mosquito nets up for all the children. As this is a malaria area, mosquito nets are important.

Storage in the girls’ room.

The girls’ room.

Now, there is some space in the backyard that is currently not used and the plan is to build a bigger room there for the boys and let the girls get the boys’ room. That way, all the kids would be able to sleep in beds and have mosquito nets.

The backyard, where the new room would be.

There is just one thing missing. Money. As always. So what does it cost to build that room? 1300 USD. That’s right. In Sweden, that would barely be enough to have a room painted. Differences. I immediately knew that I would make it my mission to raise money for this room. On February 1, I started the fundraise. Today, we have reached more than 900 USD. Friday is the last day. Can we raise another 400 USD until then? I believe so.

To help, go here: http://www.youcaring.com/nonprofits/a-bedroom-for-orphans/133388

The countdown starts now…

One month of treatment

According to the doctors, it will take one month to treat the two kids and their dad (see post from yesterday) suffering from jiggers. That one month of treatment for three persons will cost 150 USD. Not that much money, considering that we are talking about rotting hands and feet, but it’s money that they don’t have. Can you help them? Contact Robert (victoriouschildrensministries@yahoo.com).  Edit Feb 13: The money is on it’s way to them.

Jiggers

Yesterday, Robert was walking in the village of Kawanda when he found two children. They were suffering from jiggers, small flea like insects causing a horrible disease that makes body parts rot. He carried the children to their dad, who was also suffering from jiggers.

These two kids live with their dad who does not have the means (money) to take them to the hospital. They cannot walk properly due to the infection.

Tomorrow, Robert will take the kids to the hospital to see what the cost for the treatment would be. Follow Victorious Children’s Ministries Uganda on Facebook or visit this blog again to get updates.

The hands of the youngest child.

 

Feet infected by jiggers.

 

The family.

Where you are from

Just had a little look at the WordPress statistics. Not sure it’s 100% reliable (I’ve noticed some errors in some of the numbers) but I think it’s rather correct when it comes to this.

So, these are the countries where the visitors to this blog come from so far (since December last year). The darker the colour, the more visitors from that country. Naturally, Sweden is dominating. Uganda comes second and the rest are other countries in Western Europe and the United States. You are all welcome!

Mosquito nets

I have previously been raising money for mosquito nets with the campaign “Nothing but Nets” through JCI and the UN. Making malaria extinct is one of the millennium goals and mosquito nets are an efficient way to limit this fatal disease.

When I learned that the children at the orphanage were sleeping without mosquito nets and that they occasionally are infected by malaria, it was an obvious decision to buy them nets.

Through Nothing but Nets, one net costs USD 10 including transportation and education on how to use the nets. I figured that I would be able to get the nets cheaper when I was already in Uganda and that I could do the teaching myself.

The boys’ bedroom. One bed has an old mosquito net.

Robert thought it was an excellent idea so we went to a market in Kampala to find some nets. It was not that easy, actually. The first store only had the kind of nets used for bulk beds and not the round ones that we needed for most of the beds. I bought two for the two bulk beds they have. And the search continued. I wouldn’t accept any compromise regarding quality so many of the options offered were disregarded. Someone even came with nets in pink and purple with the text “Dream home” or something like that, claiming they were treated. Not likely. If it doesn’t say on the package that they are treated, they are probably not.

After some discussions and going between different vendors, we finally had the mosquito nets we needed. And I had paid USD 4-7 each. Perfect!

 

While at it, I asked if they needed something else. Of course they did. So while we were at it, we bought some new plates and cups as well. It was a bit tricky to squeeze ourselves and all the things into one of the minibuses but it was so worth it.

When we were back in Kawanda, Ritah told the children about the purchases and they got incredibly happy. I sometimes have difficulties handling all the gratefulness and this was one of these times. Around 20 children kneeling and taking my hands while I just feel that I’ve done the natural thing to do.

As the nets shouldn’t be used within the first 24 hours after opening the packages we had to wait before we could put them up. Once it was time, we had a great teamwork of three. And the feeling when the nets were up was extremely satisfying. All the kids came into the bedroom and had a look and thanked me again.

“No mosquitos are gonna bite our kids again!” said Ritah. And I sure hope so.