General

Concerns of a Mama

 His name is Claude. He is six years old and in first grade. He is number one in his class.

Love him dearly.

Now the CONCERN.

On the 27th August they carried an unconscious Claude from the school to my clinic. He had just put his head down on his desk and did not respond to efforts to wake him.

His eyes were rolled back in his head and he was limp as a rag. No response of any kind. We rushed him to the hospital. He was still unconscious when we arrived at the second hospital. The hospital did checks, started an IV, did some blood work and waited. I held his little hand and prayed. It was frightening to be able to do nothing. After about an hour of doing nothing he moved, turned his head, opened his eyes and said 'bete' (hi). mama and his eyes wondered why I was there and where he was. He seemed to have awakened from a nap. They kept him overnight and admitted they could find nothing wrong. He came home the next day with the admonition if it happened again, we should come back and they would give us a referral to CHUK Hospital in Kigali.

5 days later he was carried home again. Same procedure. Only this time after waiting for him to regain consciousness they sent him home and told us to come back at 8 the next morning for a referral to the other hospital covered my MUTUAL Insurance.  We finally got the referral about 11 am. It was a bit late to travel to the hospital in Kigali but I feared to wait so we went. 

We arrived a little after 12 noon and thank God the doctor was still there. He also could find nothing wrong but ordered a brain scan. The doctor wrote out the order for yet another hospital and signed it. We went directly from CHUK Hospital to King Faisal Hospital because they had the best equipment to do the scan. We expected to be given an appointment but instead they agreed to do the scan at once. They asked would we pay cash as a private patient. "No," the hospital that sent us was covered by our insurance. Now it seems the doctor should have had his supervisor sign the order and he did not so it was no good. Our insurance would not cover it and it was a lot of money by Rwanda standards. I was more than a bit upset and a woman in the office took pity on us and said she would help us because it was not our mistake. The scan ended up costing us 6,000 Rwanda Frw $12 USD. Imagine a brain scan for $12!!

We had to return the next morning as there was no one to read the scan. Another trip to Kigali but important. Claude was doing fine. The  scan was scary for a little kid but he was brave and after the scan told me it was a funny bed. "But I wasn't scared Mama!" He laughed at the big blue apron Oswald had to wear to stand with him while Mama went into the other room to look at the photos the scanner had made of his brain. 

We picked up the scan and went back to the CHUK doctor. The report read "Everything is normal."  But now what?  We saw a different doctor than the one who ordered the scan. This doctor decided we should have an EKG. This was to rule out any heart problem. It was now 6 pm and the EKG lab was closed for the week end. So another trip to Kigali on Monday morning.  

Bottom Line

The EKG happened and a problem showed up. His heart is a healthy heart but it is too slow. The arrhythmia is off. A specialist was called in to read the EKG. We were blessed because Doctor Stephanie an American Pediatrician arrived at the hospital just 3 days before and was in on the consult.

Normal arrhythmia for a child is in the 60s, his is in the low 50s and during his quiet time it goes below 50 causing his body to want to sleep. The main concern is the length of time he is out. Should a breathing problem develop then we are in serious trouble.

An EEG was also done and it is normal.

We are going to treat him with caffeine  as a stimulant for the present. Both episodes have been after lunch and during a quiet time in school. Coffee seems like a strange medicine but if it works I am ok with it. After lunch he will come to my kitchen for a cup of strong coffee. The hope is to stimulate the heart activity. He has no problems as long as he is active. His heart is healthy. The arrhythmia is the problem - something different and a bit scary.

It has been three weeks now with no further episodes. We are taking one day at a time counting our blessings.

The School Land

The final piece of land for the addition to the primary school bought and paid for. Notice the surrounding community building up in the area because our village and school are there.
Now that we own the necessary land we are hoping for funding to come to complete Primary 3,4,5,6.
It will be a two story building with 4 rooms down and 4 rooms up.
There will be two rooms for each grade. Want to make a difference? Help build a school in Urukundo Village.

Upcoming Event

It is our hope The Love Day Care Center will open officially in October.
We are excited to be offering a safe place for small children who are not old enough to be in school and parents need to go to a job to have a safe place to be cared for. Having a nursery already equipped with cribs and a play room for small children and an outside play area is to our advantage. We will have to hire mamas to care for these children.
We are also offering lunch in our dining room for children who are in our Primary School and cannot go home for lunch because of distance. This is beneficial for the community and for Urukundo Foundation. These are opportunities for Urukundo to be more self sufficient.
We will update you on this opening next month.

Newsletter for July 2013

Hello Dear Friends and Family.
The saying from my childhood goes through my mind from early radio. Some of you may remember. "ITS A BEAUTIFUL DAY IN CHICAGO " Well I am not sure about that but "It is a beautiful day in Rwanda" Our weather is lovely but we do need rain. If all continues as usual August will be very dry. September starts our rainy season but with the climate changes who knows? There are important events in Rwanda to honor children and the day set aside as "DAY OF THE AFRICAN CHILDREN" is just such a day.

May Greetings

Hello Friends and Family from the USA and Urukundo.
The month of May in the USA has been very cold but the spring flowers have been spectacular. I am freezing. I'm delighted to report I have been given a clean bill of health and am ready to return home to Urukundo and get back to work. The report from Urukundo is very positive. Our staff is doing a excellent job while I am away. This comment from Helen Kweskin and her team of students :

"Please know how truly grateful I feel for all the love, support, and logistical thoughtfulness that allowed us to have such a rich experience at such a very special place. "

Thank you Helen! 

Next month will be back to business as usual since I'll be returning June 12 to my kids. In the meantime, thank you to Carol Falke and Sarah Ketchley for their participation in getting this newsletter to you.

The month of May we will share with you the projects involved in Education at Urukundo Learning Center.

Funding for constructing the second grade class rooms is still the priority project for the present. Looking for partners in education to make it a success. Building each set of classrooms, one at a time, is very difficult and more expensive.  If it were possible to contract for the whole project it would be more economical.  Until that financial support comes we will continue one year at a time.  I know with God all things are possible.