Written by: Jake Fox & Shea Nollette
This morning, our team had the pleasure of visiting Evelyn and her beautiful baby, Gift. Gift was born with Hirschsprung's disease, a condition where nerve cells are missing in the muscles of part or all of the large intestine. This required a life-saving surgery to bypass or remove the affected portion of the colon. The costs associated with this critical procedure were generously funded by Pipeline, covering $250 for travel, lodging, and food for both the baby and his mother. This modest sum has given a newborn a chance at life. Baby Gift is recovering well from the surgery, and Evelyn's joy was palpable as she held her healthy child.
We then visited the rural villages of Eremi, Aya, and Kweyo in Moyo, Uganda.
In each village, we conducted healthcare training sessions. Dylan, a pre-med student from ASU, led Stop the Bleed training, teaching villagers how to stop hemorrhages and respond to emergencies. It was evident that the participants were previously unaware of these critical skills. JulieAnn, Donna, Julie, and Susie, all professionals with expertise in obstetrics, gynecology, and neonatology, held prenatal healthcare informational meetings for expectant mothers. Additionally, we distributed solar-powered lights to households that previously lived in darkness, assigning one light per household.
While providing life-saving information to these communities is immensely rewarding, it also highlighted the stark lack of education in these regions. For instance, young women in Eremi Village were surprised by our advice to avoid alcohol during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Moments like these emphasize the tragic reality that many lives could have been saved if this knowledge had been accessible earlier.
Afterwards, we returned to Nasera, where Kelly taught our friends from Moyo how to play Cornhole.
