Health-related concerns abound in Bulenga and the surrounding areas. Sometimes medical care is only a couple of dollars, but even that small cost is out of reach for the poor. Families that can’t afford food have no money for medical care either. Almost all of the children we work with have worms and many are malnourished. They need dental care and education on hygiene. Cruciform helps with these needs as we become aware of them. We have also been able to fund surgeries for a couple of the more serious cases.
In partnership with Bulenga Healing Center church, we also visit the hospital on a weekly basis. Every Tuesday, a team goes to a Kampala hospital, bringing packets of milk and boiled eggs for the patients. Ugandan hospitals are very different from the ones in the United States. They provide little food, often posho and beans or broth; the expectation is that the patient’s family or friends will provide the rest of the food, as well as the bed linens, bandages, money for medicine, and caretaking that would be done by nurses in the U.S.
We alternate which floors of the hospital we visit each week, but frequently visit the burn unit. Burn victims are some of the patients most in need of supplemental nutrition in order to facilitate their healing. Cruciform team members, along with members of the church, give the patients milk and eggs, as well as any other donations the church may have, visit with the patient, and pray with the patient.
Your support not only enables us to bring physical comfort, but to bring the ultimate comfort of the Gospel. The simple act of showing a patient practical love in the form of milk and eggs softens their hearts and opens the door for us to share the gospel. Through this ministry, we have witnessed people accept Jesus as their Savior.