Snake Bite in Bugobero

Dear Friends and Prayer Warriors,

I (Pam) arrived in Mbale (2 hrs. from Jinja) yesterday and we immediately left for Manafwa (1 hour from Mbale), a Ugandan district on the Kenyan border, where Harry and the country director met with the district health officer (DHO) and his management team. A couple of hours later we went to the hospital in Bugobero, where up until 3 months ago did not have a doctor, meaning patients were seen only by a "clinical officer." As a result of Kissito's assistance, they now have two doctors who are seeing patients and doing up to 5 surgeries a day. It is the first time surgeries have been done in several years.

While we were visiting the women’s ward, there was a commotion at one end of the ward and in came 2 men carrying a woman on their hands made into a seat. She was so weak she could not even sit up. They quickly laid her on a mattress on the floor near us, and when we looked up, a crowd had followed them into the ward. The country director quickly started clearing the onlookers out of the ward, and was informed that she had been bitten by a snake at about 8 am. It was now 1 pm.

My heart broke for her as others went to get a doctor and I saw how swollen and damaged her foot was from the bite. She was delirious and would often cry out in pain. I didn’t know what I could do, but I took a few steps over to her and reached out to hold her hand. I started talking calmly to her and praying. She quickly reached for me with her other hand as I continued talking and praying. Sometimes she would cry out in pain, other times she whimpered and murmured, and some times she just lay perfectly still. When the doctor arrived, he quickly got her blood pressure and asked the nurse to go get the needed meds. I just kept talking to her and praying for her. She continued to hold on to me with both hands, while the team was getting what they had available. It seemed as time stood still as I knelt beside her. While the nurse was gone, another bed was brought into the ward and several of us lifted her mattress to get her off the floor. The nurse brought in the meds and Harry was able to help get the IV ready, while she quickly found her vein. Then as the nurse was inserting the IV, Harry got the syringe ready. Unfortunately, no antivenom is available here. We did everything we could and left the rest in God's hands.

Praise the Lord, she was stable by dinner time, but was still in pain. We will continue praying for her and many others at this hospital, which is located in a really poor area of the district. It got so dark today, as a result of the overcast skies, that it made it very difficult to see. In fact, when we were in the women’s ward, they had to get all the people back away from the windows and glass doors to let in as much light as possible. Later, Harry went out to the vehicle and got his head lamp that we brought from the states. He showed it to the doctors and they said they needed these so they could see down throats; to clean wounds, etc. But they especially needed them when they were in surgery and the power goes out. There have even been times that the generator ran out of gas before finishing surgery, making it very, very difficult to see. We are so blessed to have such good medical care and facilities in America.

Almost two hundred people came for help today and thanks to the support of Kissito, they received loving care and medications. Please pray how you can help us in this work.

Blessings, Pam and Harry Your Missionaries in Uganda