Kentucky Medicine saves a 13 year old from grave.

By Grace Nakajje August 30

“Indeed I was dying” these were the words that a 13 year old boy mentioned after he received treatment  for a complex dislocation suffered in his left leg over the last three months.

Enza Amitye is an orphan who lost his parents during the civil war in northern Uganda and now lives with his grandmother in the village of Apia near the Uganda Congo Boarder. His case was  recently diagnosed by the Kentucky medical mission team at Anzu United Methodist Church, Arua district. Amitye in an interview with the writer recalls that on the fateful day his grandmother sent him to take millet to be grinded at the nearby trading center about four miles from their home.

 “Since I had just returned from school I felt too tired to walk and I opted to borrow a bicycle from a neighbor. However little did I know that it was in bad mechanical condition.   I succeeded riding it up to the grinding machine but a problem occurred on my way back where I lost control and I crashed  The millet flour amounting to twelve kilogrammes poured on the ground, and I was helpless until the news reached my grandmother, who asked a well wisher to carry me home.

Nevertheless, the owner of the bicycle accused me of being careless. My grandmother instead of expressing concern for me, also cried fowl for the flour. So I was left in pain for three days. Later my grandmother brought some herbs with a hope of reducing the pain. She had no money to take me to the hospital.

 

She has been using hot water and herbs to treat me for the last three months but my health has been deteriorating each day. In fact this has turned her cruel toward me and she is asking God to kill me and join my parents in the grave.  Worse still, I have suffered neglect even from my friends whom we used to play with around the village including those at Apia primary school where I was in primary four.
Access to necessities like food, water, and bathing has become difficult since I have to be carried from one place to another.

I now have multiple pains of both body and mind. My friends now call me lame and they say if I do not die I will only be taken to the streets to beg and earn a living. When I saw the local council chairman in our home I thought he had indeed come to take me to the streets but to my surprise he brought me for treatment here, by these American people.
I now feel the joy deep in my heart I believe I will walk again. I pray that I will go back to school and become a doctor”. Amitye narrated his odeal.

Meanwhile the local council 1 chairman Samuel Asiku said the pain of the young boy was immense. “I came across this boy after I was contacted by the United Methodist Church district superintendent to mobilize the people for treatment. His grandmother is helpless and the boy was perhaps awaiting his last breath. Thank God for the free medical services from the Kentucky Mission Team”. Asiku said

The Kentucky team leader Roland Moore said that the boy suffered a partial  fractured bone  that had separated from the joint. “We have put him a dynamic splint for four months and the  bone will be solid enough to start walking. We have also assigned Dr. Saul Lyakua of Arua referral Hospital to follow up.  
Roland further said that they managed to reach out to over 1500 patients in a period of seven days in the communities of Anzu, Lebanon and Kulu.

“We  treated diseases of malaria, typhoid, leprosy, Sexual Transmitted Diseases, rash, fungus, respiratory illness,   worms?, stomach upset nausea, childhood illness, injuries and eye problems”. Said Roland
“I am grateful to my team that worked tirelessly and the various churches and individuals that supported financially and in prayers. I believe we should now focus beyond treating disease but also to provide clean safe water in the future as a solution to water borne diseases” he added.

The Arua district superintendent Reverend Manasseh Toko regrets the level of poverty in the area saying many people cannot afford to access medical services in the health centers around and calls for continues support.

The Director Missions and ministries of the East Africa Annual Conference, Samuel Mdune therefore adds   that people are appreciative for the services and the impact which it has created to the communities as well as the church.

The Resident Bishop of the East Africa Annual Conference, Bishop Daniel Wandabula however called for more support in the areas of food security, water and education.

The team was later commissioned by the Bishop as interpreters for the conference during a send off meeting by the Bishop at the Headquarters in Kampala on September 2, 2010 and they have since returned back to America.

The medical campaign was a collective effort by the East Africa Annual Conference and United States of America churches of Russell Spring United Methodist Church, Jennies Chapel United Methodist Church, Coffeys Chapel United Methodist Church and Dunnville Christian Church.

Arua is one of the districts in northern Uganda that have experienced the civil war over for the last twenty years and therefore there is high rate of poverty which is exposing many into crime including child abuse.

 

Amitye after Treatment

However, government of Uganda is currently carrying out a peace recovery process in the region and many people have returned to their villages amidst outcry of Health services, Food security, Shelter and Education.