Untitled
on Um Zayd wa Atheer (Uganda), 06/Oct/2009 18:28, 34 days ago
A Question of Life or DeathLast Tuesday I was unexpectedly confronted with 2 issues of life and death. Neither situations have been able to leave me so far. Both were patients in the hospital, one is alive today.The brother of one of the Village Volunteers attempted suicide on Monday night by taking a weed killer. He was brought to the hospital in the early hours of Tuesday morning unconscious. His wife had left him and their 6 children a few weeks ago. On Tuesday morning she joined the other anxious relatives but opted to keep in the background but I was impressed that she was there. A day later David had regained consciousness and internal damaged had been minimised by some wise person realising that he should be forced to drink lots of milk. Friends and neighbours joined the family around his bed, sometimes in prayer, sometimes with encouragement. He was offered no nursing care. Nobody referred to what had happened. Forty-eight hours later David went home. It was only then that I realised how lucky he was not to be arrested. Suicide is against the law in Uganda and brings great shame on the family. On hearing the news another volunteer said to me 'Shame' and for a few seconds I thought she was showing pity but she meant dishonour. Even successful suicide attempts are punished and I was told the story of a man who had hung himself in a tree was beaten by the police to demonstrate the public disgrace. David has now gone home but his disgrace is yet to be dealt with. This is a Christian country. Let us hope there will be understanding and compassion.It was whilst visiting David that I saw Elias. He was in the next bed and in a terrible physical condition. It is a long story and I will not go into too much description on how I found him but it was there for everyone to see and smell. He had lain in his bed, face down for 2 weeks and had received no care. His family attendant had abandoned him and the nurses and doctor ignored him. He was close to death with dehydration and he had not eaten for the 2 weeks. It was the physical state of his infested body that was the most shocking. The flies were celebrating. Three times during the day I went to the nurse on duty asking her to help but she was too busy with her office work. At 3 pm I returned and insisted that Elias needed help and if nobody was available then I would do what was necessary. I ignored the objections and eventually the nurse said that she would work with me. It took 2 hours to wash his body, the bed and to find clean bedding. Before he had none. By lying in the same position for 2 weeks, of course, Elias had developed pressure sores on his emaciated body. His throat was so dry and he was so weak he was unable to speak. Smells and sights haunted me for the rest of that day. It was not difficult to decide that I could not keep this incident to myself and wrote to the Medical Superintendent of the hospital with copies to others who I thought should be informed. Elias has since died. His just live body was taken back to his village. Transporting a dead body is expensive.There are good caring nurses in Uganda but they seem to be few. Here in Masindi the standard of nursing care is very poor and painful to witness. I have made several attempts to encourage them and work alongside but it is not always welcome. The establishment will try to offer justification for poor performance like low wages, poor training and poor working conditions. In my letter to the MS I expressed my concerns and felt that there could be no acceptable reason for such gross neglect................