Friday 28 September 2012

Medication

When I made the request for financial help for the Waterloo Hospital to be able to purchase medication for the cholera epidemic I never expected such a fantastic response! Thank you so much to everyone who has been able to send a donation for the medication. They have made the first purchase of medical supplies shown in the picture below and more are being purchased next week and more donations have been pledged!!
 
 
Many lives have been saved and I am very grateful for the donations and prayers, as is Dr Koroma and his staff and patients.
 
Here's a message of thanks from Dr Koroma:
 
"I would like to express my sincere thanks and appreciation to you and the people that donated this money to us for the purchase of drugs to help in the treatment of cholera, indeed we have tried by our own means to handle these cases since the starting of the epidemic, and so far we have treated 112 cases, and only 3 deaths, and I think this is a good effort through God's help even though we have been struggling to buy the drugs and the fluids, but we have done far better. The epidemic is still not finished even though it has reduced, and people are now coming at an earlier stage than before, but we still need more drugs and fluids to be able to handle them proper"
 

Wednesday 12 September 2012

Urgent Request

I spent some time with Dr Koroma from the Adventist Hospital at Waterloo this week. He has been very busy as Waterloo has been quite badly affected by the cholera epidemic. His biggest problem at the moment is lack of drugs due to the increased demand.
 
Cholera is easily treated, but only if the necessary drugs are available, and of course as always malaria and typhoid are a big problem
 
They had completely run out of drips, I was able to give enough for them to puchase around 100, but they won't last long.
 
The items most urgenty needed are:
Chloramphenicol, Dolycyline, Metronidazole, Albendazole, ORS, IV fluids (R/L & N/S) and Ciprofloxacin. (apologies for any spelling mistakes!).
 
All of the drugs needed can be purchased here.
 
If anyone feels they are able to make a financial contribution towards these much needed drugs please contact me and I can give details on how to proceed.

(This is the hospital I was admitted to when I had malaraia)
 

Monday 10 September 2012

Sheku

This is Sheku, another of our sponsored children. He has cholera. He lives with his grandmother who took him for treatment straight away and he is recovering well.
Sheku is due to start a new school next week so we pray for a quick and full recovery for him.

Saturday 8 September 2012

Boima and Bohboh

Good news!! Boima was well enough today to be discharged from hospital! He sent a message to me earlier to say that he's at home and wants us to continue to pray for him. He also said that he's feeling much better, but wants some vimto! I have promised to send him some tomorrow. He was very pleased and grateful when I told him about all the people who have been praying for him (people in UK, Canada, US and even France and Germany if my blog stats are to be believed). It's such a relief to know that he is on the mend, when I saw him yesterday I was shocked by how ill he was.


Boima's little brother Abdul (better known as Bohboh) was much more fortunate than Boima, his illness was picked up on quickly so he received treatment much sooner. He's a little quieter than usual and still a bit off his food, but apart from that he's ok. Here's a picture of him taken when he started to feel better..
 
Bohboh is a lovely boy but I do wish he wouldn't call me 'Alison Potato' (I have no idea why he calls me that and think I'm better off not knowing!) and more than anything I wish he'd stop telling people that I have a large behind!!
 
 
Both of these boys are sponsored through the Mission Direct Sponsorship program and there is a provision in the sponsorship agreement for emergency medical care......it was through this that we were able to pay for Boima's treatment.

Friday 7 September 2012

Boima


I went to visit Boima this afternoon. I was quite shocked when I saw him, as I last saw him only two days ago and he was fine then. I almost walked straight past him as I hardly recognised him at first - he looked like an old man lying there.
 
He's in a clinic that has been setup just to deal with cholera patients. He has had 5 drips today to rehydrate him, and now he is taking oral rehydration salts. He was complaining of stomach pains and cramp in his feet and he was obviously very uncomfortable. The nursing staff wanted him to eat some rice but he was refusing - we were able to convince him to have a few mouthfuls while I was there. He was desperate for a soft drink, but we were told that he wasn't allowed - I've promised to buy him some when he is better!
 
The clinic was an eye opener, we had to wash our hands and feet in chlorinated water as we arrived and as we left. The first room I went through was full of chairs with holes cut into the seats and buckets underneath. The ward where Boima was (a meeting hall converterted for the purpose) had 40 beds, all with holes cut into the middle with buckets underneath. Visitors aren't normally allowed and we weren't allowed to touch the patients. It broke my heart when Boima held out his hand to me and I wasn't allowed to take it. I have to say it was all very clean and seemed very well organised.
 
Boima's family have asked me to share the picture below of him that was taken today and they have asked for prayers for him,
 
 

A Very Poorly Boima



Sponsorship Work

I'm currently working on the education sponsorships in Sierra Leone, we have around 80 students on full sponsorships and another 40 or so that we assist with fees and uniforms. Most of my time so far has been spent checking their report cards, so far this year we have two who topped their class and a good number who are in the top 10 in their class. We only have three students so far who have failed to promote to the next school year and will have to retake the year.
 
We have 7 students waiting for their WASSCE (West Africal Senior School Certificate Examination) results, 9 students waiting for their BECE (the exams taken after the first three years at secondary school)  results and 4 students who have promoted from primary school to senior school.
 
We have a tailor working hard to sew the unforms for the students ready for the schools opening next week. Ibrahim, who helps me with the sponsorship program, has been to the schools and paid the fees. On Sunday we have a big meeting with all the parents and guardians of the students to go over any issues and to give the school supplies for the students.
 
Over the past two days two of our students have gone down with cholera, they are in hospital now receiving treatment.
 
I have heard through the grapevine the some more of the King George residents have passed away, but due to a breakdown I've been without a vehicle for the past week. Now that I have my wheels back I'll be able to visit there to see how everyone is.
 
I've also not been able to visit Ramatu, so I'm going to pop in there tomorrow and see how she's doing.
 
Trouble (the dog) has really grown!! I'd love to be able to post a picture of him, but he's so excitable that he doesn' stay still long enough to have his photo taken - I'll have to try to creep up on him.