Days out at the birth center

These are my writings for the last couple of days at the birth center site....


Feb 9

I'm writing this outside on the lawn of the hotel/hostel/volunteer center where we are staying for two nights. I'll be posting this when I get back to Kampala and our hotel there.
Today was really exciting :) We got to see where a lot of the money we all raised is going and to meet women in the community there. Shanti Uganda is building a beautiful new birthing center whcih is badly needed here. Natalie, the founder and director of Shanti Uganda told us her story and why she got involved with this. She woked for a big NGO for years and bascially hated seeing how all of the large sums of money that came in were use poorly, not used for what they were supposed to be used for, or just wasted on unnecessary management. She decided to go the grassroots way and start her own small organization. She had been involved with birthing and hospitals for years and saw what a terrible birthing experience most Ugandan women had. First of all, many women die during labor because of lack of supplies, drugs (when really needed), and safe, clean places to give birth. There is also a big culture of fear around birth and the governemnt is kind of supporting that. The government promotes a very clinical, forceful birthing experience and has made traditional birth attendants (women who have helped women give birth at home, in comfortable environments, with support) illegal. I'm still trying to understand why that is. So ,because it is illegal, TBAs do not have access to the necessary drugs to keep HIV women from passing on the virus to ther new babies. You can only get them in hospitals and many Ugandan women are terrifed of hosptials because they hear horror stories from women who gave birth there.
So, Shanti Uganda ia finding a happy medium between the hosptital and the forceful nature of birth there (and in clinics) and the home birth. This center is being built right now and tomorrow we're going to get our hands dirty and build! Today we met women who are part of a women's group at the center. They all have HIV and were looking to learn a a skill to earn money for their families. THey all learned bead making last year. And they are talented! We all went ahopping for bead to bring home, to give as gifts and for ourselves. It is amazing how such little money goes such a long way for them. Some of the necklaces were only $4 and they could be sold for much more. So, we all bought a lot. The smiles of gratitue on their faces was pretty remarkable. But, let's be clear, I am not paiting a picture of these women as victims. Yes, they are victims of their crappy circumstances and their sometimes crappy husbands who have left them and don't contribute to their family and yes, they have HIV and have been sick. But, these are strong, loving, fun women who greeted us wuth a song, a dance, and hugs, laughter and warmth. It was a meeting of two groups of loving women, us and them. We sang for them too. (badly, I'll add :) ) We danced and laughed and taught them some yoga :)
So, now we're hanging out outside before we go to diner at the house of one of the women in that group. I'm looking forward to visiting a home and eating with a family. And then we'll come back to our hostel and try to sleep.
A few of the women in my group had the fortune of attending and helping with a birth today! ONe of the women is a doula in Minnesota and they actually really needed her help today because they are so short handed here. They came back here so excited. They were happy to report that it was a successful birth and all went well. However, the norn hre is not that.THe woman next to this new mom in the clinic was 6 months pregnant and having c0ntractions and bleeing AND HER WATER BROKE. wE WERE TOLD THAT THIS WOMAN WILL LOSE HER BABY BECAUSE THEY DON[T HAV THe TOOLS OR SUPPLIES TO HANDLE THIS situation. AaND THEY ARE ALL SO USED TO THIS HAPPENING THAT NO NE WAS EVEN COMFORTING THIS WOMAN, thEY JUST LEFT HER THERE TO LIE IN AIN ON HER OWN.
So awful .I CAN'T EVEN imagine that.There was another story of a woman who waited on line to give birth last month but was having complicatilns. NO one got to her in time to help so mom and baby both died.
Ok, more tomorrow...

Feb 10

So, today we saw where a lot of the money we raised is going. The site of the birth center is beautiful. I'll post photos when I can. It is halfway built and consists of a community center where there will be classes and meetings, two privte birthing rooms, a check up room, and a separate building where the women's group will make beads and bags to sell. There will also be a garden and outside area where women can walk around and relax while in the early stages of labor. It is a beautiful place. I laid some bricks today and participated in the actual building. Women and children from the village greeted us and came to meet us. A 90 year old women comes to help out in building the center every week. She is so excited to have this in the community. The women in the community have played a vital role in creating the center which I think it so wonderful. We are giving the women want they want and need, not what we think they should have or what WE want. They are so grateful for the center ande come to help build it and create a garden there each week. It was fun to see the children in the village cheking out all these white people coming to work in their community. Apparently, they think of white people as not liking to get dirty and alays wearing shoes. So, they were surprised to see a bunch of us take off our shoes and mushing up the mud with our feet (think I Love Lucy with the grapes, only with mud)



oK, So now I'd like to write about the moment when I'm feeling like this "Holy Shit, I want to get the hell out of here and go back home." I haven't had too many of those but here is one. Imagine this... we're out at the birthing center all day. It amazing and beautiful and we're working hard, getting dirty, laughing and sweating like hell because it is like a zillion degrees out. All is well until I realize that I'm exhausted from heat, getting a headache from heat and dehydration, hungyry, and tired. I can't go inside ( it's all outside in an open field but at least there was a shady spot to sit) or get food (lunch wasn't ready yet) our wash my hands (well we could wash our muddy hands but the water basin to wash in was kind of filled with muddy water too) or comfortably go to the bathroom (there was only a very nice hole in the ground with very little privacy). Ok, so this is all hard enough. (Since mostly women are reading this, I feel fine adding this next part in. And men, you can appreciate us women more for what we have to go throug sometimes) I would like you to now imagine that you have your period and you are in the middle of the bush with no private bathroom, no running water, no garbage can, and just a small roll of toilet paper. Yup, fun times. I will not get into details here so I will tell this amusing story of what I did to any woman out there who would like to commiserate or have a horrifying laugh at my expense :)
SO, when I got back to the "hotel" that day (yesterday) with a huge headache from the sun and exhausted from the challenges that day, this is when I had the thought " I want to go home!!!!"

One other thing that makes me want home or just somewhere else, we have eaten the same mean for EVERY lunch and dinner with the locals here. Same thing every meal. rice, beans, matoke (like a mushed banana but tastes like a potato) and two kinds of potato. All covered in ground nut sauce. That's it. Now, I happen to like this kind of food and I have no problem digesting it. G Nut sauce is great! But, after eating it for the past 5 lunch/dinners straight, I'm starting to crave anything else! Plus, I'm not eating any raw food here because I'm not takihg chances on getting sick so some of the fruit looks delicious but I won't go near it. Some people are, some people aren't. It looks so good though. I'm dreaming of eating watermelon and pineapple. And I haven't had chocolate for 5 days!! 5 days without chocolate. It's a forced detox :) I don't mind it at all. I just want another food option. The only options here and between 3 different knds of potato.



My favorite moment of personal risk taking.
I rode on a motorcycle!!! We all rode on the back of motorcycles that took us to the birthing center yesterday. It was amazing!! Woohoo!! I wasn't even scared to get on it, not sure why. They went slowly and were told not to go too fast with us or they wouldn't get paid. So, it wasn't too scary, just so muich fun!!!! This wasn't like motorcycle riding in the US where you would of course wear a helmet and leather stuff to keep you protected if you fall. This was, hop on the back of the bike and go!! (Don't worry, Mom, it already happened and I'm fine. Can't worry about it now!) I loved it. Best way to get around a Ugandan village :)


Feb 11

Intesne, amazing day. Not sure how much I can write about this now because I need to process it for myself a bit first. A few of us were lucky enough to attend and help with a birth at the local clinic. It was a 17 yr old girl without her fammily or husband there (well her sister was there but kind of hanging out in the background) We basically saved her from having a C section. 5 hours or so of comforting her, helping her, teraching her how to get the baby to drop down so she could avoid their quick jump to a C section, telling her it's all gong to be ok because she was alone, terrified and thinking she was dying. When we first got to her, she was crying in pain on a table, alone. She told us she thought she ws dying, that she had been bad or done something to offend God and that is why she was in this pain. It was hard. It was a lot, But, we were with her the whole time. I can't imagine if we hasn't been there. But it would have been like every other birhtin Uganda, I guess. Also, the place was filthy. dirty, distgusting floors and tables. Anyway, she had a healthy baby girl and was so grateful to us for our help. There is more to tell but I will save it for another time. Her name is Miriam and I will never ever forget her. I am even more appreicate of the birth center we are all building after this expereince today.