Rushere Clinic

We headed to Rushere (southwest of Gaba) on Tuesday afternoon.  The roads were under construction much of the way, but the parts that were finished were smooth and fast.  Thankfully, we did not get a flat tire on the van (the result of the bumpy roads) until we arrived to the guest house where we were staying.  The guesthouse was located away from the main road in a beautiful country setting with rolling hills and pastures, it served good food, and had comfortable rooms (except for the fact that a bat came into my room the second night and caused me to lose a few hours of sleep).

On Wednesday morning we set up a medical clinic at the small local church (made of mud and sticks with a tin roof but quite comfortable and clean even though the floor was made of dirt).  We saw 200 patients on Wednesday and another 200 on Thursday.  This was a clinic for the local community that would not otherwise be able to afford medical care.  People would arrive in the morning, receive a numbered index card (1-200), and would be called into the church by number (like taking a number at the bakery or deli).  We saw children as young as two weeks and adults as old as 85.

Clinic at Church in Rushere

I spent my time in patient registration, and Jessica worked in the pharmacy and did a little blood work.  My job was to write down each patient’s name, age, and gender in the registration book after our Ugandan coordinator wrote them on their medical form.  The patient was then weighed and given a deworming pill (which kills any worms they might have – it is recommended every 3 months, and I will be taking one before I leave Uganda).  The people waited patiently in the waiting area (plastic lawn chairs set up in rows at the back of the church) to see the doctor (Dr. Jay Gregston or one of the two Ugandan doctors).  Some patients chose to wait longer so they could see the muzungu (Ugandan word for white) doctor.  The patients would then take their paper to the pharmacy if they needed medication.  As their prescriptions were being filled, the patients would go to the corner of the church where the pastors would provide spiritual care.

Jessica taking blood sample

Joline & Jared working at registration

As I said, the purpose of this free clinic was to see people who could not afford to pay for medical care.  But we did have a couple of people come who could clearly afford to pay.  These people were from the Bahima tribe (the same tribe as the Ugandan President and his wife).  I learned that the people in this tribe are often given government positions and are considered the ruling class.  Interestingly, they can easily be identified because they are bigger (taller and heavier) than the other people living in the area.  At the end of the day on Thursday, we saw a couple of these people (someone had held a number for them and their drivers drove them up to the church when it was time to be seen).  After we had seen patient #200, more of them showed up, demanding to be seen (demanding may be too strong of a word, but they were certainly pushy).  Our Ugandan staff explained to them that all of the numbers had already been given out and we needed to pack up and leave.  When one woman wouldn’t accept this explanation, I was asked to talk to the woman.  So I gave the same explanation and further pointed out that the rest of people we saw had been waiting all day to be seen and they couldn’t come at the end and ask to be seen.  I was glad that they listened to me and left without arguing.  We had talked as a team at one of our morning devotionals about the importance of doing God’s work in our clinics and not worrying about who we might make happy or disappointed.  In this case, we couldn’t show favoritism, especially not to those who could afford to pay for care somewhere else.  (James 2:1 “Show no partiality. . .”)  It was uncomfortable to turn people away, but in the end, we felt that we were doing what God called us to do.

If you want to hear about one patient in particular who stood out to us in this clinic, please visit the Gregston’s website:  here