Report on the Journey to Uganda

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Journey of Hope - Part 2

Hello all!

My name is Sidney Meeks, and I am currently a nursing student attending Montana Tech in Butte. First off, I would like to thank all of you for allowing me the opportunity to go on this trip with Nadine and your organization. It was an experience of a lifetime that I will always be grateful for. I would like to share with you a few experiences that were special to me.

Sidney Meeks, 20 year old nursing student at Montana Tech in Butte, MT graciously accompanies Nadine (who had a long journey with a health crisis) to Uganda. What a Godsend she was! Perfect timing and need for 6 weeks of amazing trainings and more! Thank you Sidney - your impact was immense and will never be forgotten! So much love all the way around!!

Jubilee and Community Day

On June 2nd we invited the entire community to the AGAPE training center and farm for a day of interactive learning stations and goat feed. The VHTs (Village Health Teams) and I planned the stations based on the trainings they had over the prior week. We had around 400 people attend - kids too!

The kids were instructed on the importance of good hygiene and the proper way to brush their teeth.  They had play time and completed coloring pages, while the rest of the community went through several learning stations.

The stations included information on proper hygiene and sanitation. They learned to make a “tippy tap” for washing their hands. They were entertained by the skit “Pig Story” about proper sanitation to prevent diarrhea. They also learned the importance of having a latrine in a specific spot away from their house and water source. All participants got a bar of soap to take home.  Another station taught how to use a mosquito net properly to aid in the prevention of malaria. The pregnant women, elderly and disabled were all given a net, and more are going to be distributed from the government soon.  One of the goals of the VHT trainings was to integrate with the local ministry of health and this was a huge success! 

The young women were taught about women’s hygiene and school age girls were given a hygiene kit. They were so grateful, and I wish we could have taken an unlimited supply with us for all of them. It was an eye-opening experience for me, as well as sad, because that isn’t something that first crossed my mind when thinking about things that they go without. As a woman, I can’t imagine not having access to necessary hygiene supplies. 
The last station was a nutrition station where they discovered the “Grow, Glow, and Go” foods and were given a variety of seeds to take home with them. We also washed some children’s heads that had head fungus that had come to us for help, I really enjoyed helping them and being a part of that.
After everyone had gone through all the stations, we had a community meal that included goat, beans, rice, posha, and cabbage. Everyone ate and enjoyed the evening together.  We ended the night by watching a film about Jesus which was in their local language.
I truly enjoyed the entire day, and seeing how happy they all were to be there and to be learning. The VHTs did an amazing job teaching the rest of their community everything that they had learned throughout the week, and I know that will really make a difference in all their lives.

The women and families were so happy to receive soap from the hygiene and sanitation trainings. The pregnant women and elderly received mosquito nets. The school age girls received female hygiene kits handmade and generously donated from an amazing group from Great Falls, MT. Toothbrushes and seeds were distributed. So many amazing trainings and so much awesome learning. The community was immensely blessed thanks to all of you! The participants felt so welcomed and loved! We are immensely grateful. The impact was huge and gave great hope! Thank you!!

The Village Health Teams from 5 villages teaching the proper way to assemble a mosquito net in a village home to prevent malaria. Pregnant women and the elderly all received mosquito nets!

Side note: We met with the Omoro Ministry of Health who graciously came to train the VHTs for 3 days utilizing a combined Uganda draft manual and learning modules Hope 2 One Life has been teaching for many years - graciously incorporated into a PowerPoint and printed manual by dear US friends. It was so well received and the best learning opportunity ever for the VHT’s! Two trainings occurred for the Northern Uganda VHT group and the Emmanuel Clinic VHT group with the successful integration of both into the ministry of health program! Thanks be to God and amazing connections over the years that made this possible. Sidney and the VHT’s held “scalp clinic” after the Jubilee too! They all pitched in to learn and treat scalp fungus and other skin conditions. Nothing stops dedicated individuals even if it means working on the dark - we of course are so thankful for our solar lighting and the showers/bathrooms, as well as all of the training/meeting and dining/dormitory facilities that made all of this possible. What a blessing for the community! Thank you all for the immense difference you have made in the lives of so many!

Ministry of Health District Health Officer training the Emmanuel Clinic VHT’s

Tailoring women

Meeting the Katamarra tailoring women was another experience I really enjoyed. Eunice, Alice, and Pamela are so sweet and are such hard-working women! The products they make are beautiful and take so much time to complete. They truly have a gift! They are some of the people I will miss the most and wish I could have spent more time with. I am excited to sell some of their crafts and tell everyone about them!

Thank you all for sharing this experience with me it is something I will treasure for life and hope to go back some day!
- Sidney

Sidney Meeks and her mother Lori are hosting a craft sale in Malta Montana on August 12.

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The green button takes you to our website hope2onelife.org and the donation page. Scroll down, and then choose from the options. One option to select is "Fund Designation" if you would like your funds may go into a certain area, such as Agriculture or the Agape Training Center or Water, Education, etc. - or you may leave it as Greatest Need/Unrestricted.

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