Saluwa's emergency

I have finally been able to take all the deaf children back to school after two years in which they had only a term each year of education. I am really hoping that this time they will receive a full year’s education with no more sudden school closures. According to Ugandan government policy all of them have to be promoted to the next year of school. This means that they will have missed almost two whole years of the national curriculum. For example, Alau was at the start of Senior 2 in 2020 when the schools closed down. He was promoted to Senior 3 when schools reopened in 2021, but again the schools closed down after only one term. This year he is in Senior 4, which is the O’ level year. Alau wants to become a teacher, which will require him to go on to A’ levels afterwards, but this is dependent on O’ level results. The same rush through the year groups applies to every child in Uganda and is bound to affect standards of education very badly for all children currently of school-going age. I hope that the teachers will take a really holistic approach to make up for the chaos caused by Covid closures. Thankfully this will be easier to do in the case of classes in specialized units, such as those in the primary schools attended by most of our deaf children. 

 At the same time as returning the children to school, I brought a pupil from Cece Primary School as far as Gulu together with her older sister, to act as carer. Her name is Saluwa. She is 17 years old and is in Primary 5 in Nimule. She is an orphan, cared for by her sister, who is not much older than her. Over the past five years she developed a serious eye problem in her left eye. It became progressively more painful until she could no longer see on that side. The eye also slipped downwards making her face a bit lobsided. 

Typically for people in South Sudan it took years for the family to take Saluwa to hospital. The doctor at Nimule Hospital checked her eye and noticed a ‘dark mass’ which he suspected might be a tumour. He made a referral to see an eye specialist in Uganda, but the family lacked the means to take her. Saluwa’s sister came to see me and asked if I could help. I said yes, of course. 

I felt overwhelmed by how much needed to be done. In order to cope, on arrival in Gulu I enlisted the help of a partner organization called Mission Uganda.  Mission Uganda (mentioned in a previous post) assisted me with buying the requirements for the two deaf little boys who were to go to school in Gulu, Joel and Alafi.  Alafi was starting deaf school for the first time. I put the eight pupils bound for Mbale in a taxi so they could continue their journey without me, under the supervision of Alau, with a promise that I would meet up with them at Budaderi Primary School the next day. I also called the headteacher at Budaderi so she was forewarned that they would be arriving unaccompanied by me and without anyone who could hear or speak.  It is a very good thing that Alau is very mature and capable in spite of his deafness.

I then accompanied Saluwa and her sister to Gulu’s referral hospital, which has a very good eye department. Saluwa was referred for a CAT scan, where the tumour behind her eye was very clearly shown. The next appointment was the following day, so I had to leave them and resume my journey to Mbale to meet up with the eight deaf students and complete all their school requirements. 

The tumour over Saluwa's eye socket.

I stayed in contact with Saluwa’s sister as I continued my journey. She put me through to Saluwa’s consultant, Miti Moses, who told me over the phone that the tumour was pushing on her optic nerve and needed to be removed. This would entail a referral to a larger hospital in Kampala for major surgery. As Moses is a consultant in both hospitals and was due to travel to Kampala he agreed to take the two girls with him. The bombshell was that the medical costs would come to five million Uganda Shillings, the equivalent of almost £1,050, which needed to be paid in advance. I had not budgeted for such big expenses. In order to send money for Saluwa’s treatment, which was potentially a matter of life or death, I had to rob Peter to pay Paul. 

I explained the situation to the schools in Mbale and requested that I pay some of the school fees late, although I bought the usual school necessities such as toiletries at once. After saying goodbye to the deaf children at their schools, I travelled on to Kampala. When I arrived at the hospital I found Saluwa’s sister in a very distressed state. Neither of the sisters had ever travelled so far afield. They felt very foreign and daunted by the modernity of everything they saw. Coming from a very insular tribal community they were deeply suspicious of everything, including the hospital staff. A further 3D CAT scan revealed that the tumour was attached to the skull, not the eye as previously thought, and was made of hard tissue. In removing it the eye socket would need to be reshaped. I was due to take a flight to the UK, but the operation had still not taken place. This was a great worry to me. I asked HUMAES, my partner organization in Nimule, to take responsibility for keeping in contact with the consultant and with Saluwa’s sister and also to liaise regarding extra expenses, which were definitely going to be needed. 

Saluwa has now had her operation. A biopsy revealed that the tumour is of a type called osteoma, which is benign. She had another CAT scan which showed that she will need further surgery as some of the tumour is still there.  That will be done in April.  She has now been discharged. Her eye is swollen but she will regain her eyesight. I am truly thankful that Uganda has such good hospitals and especially for the help of her eye consultant Miti Moses. I want to thank Mission Uganda and HUMAES so much for their help for Saluwa and her sister and for me. As you will see, I had a huge amount to do, with tight deadlines, making the whole episode very difficult logistically. I could not have managed alone.

 

Saluwa waits for her operation.

Saluwa is a very bright pupil who has always done very well at school. I should explain that it is quite normal in South Sudan for pupils to start school very late due to both family and the country’s dire circumstances, which is why she is still at primary school at the age of 17. Her great worry from her hospital bed has been missing lessons. I am sure that she will be keen to thank donors herself via the internet at HUMAES office once she is back in Nimule. 

Is anyone able to donate towards Saluwa’s medical care? Because it was an emergency situation, costs had to be taken out of unintended budgets, such as regular school funds and the deaf children’s sponsorship money. All the deaf pupils’ school fees have now been paid. As mentioned, there will be further medical costs as Saluwa will need a second operation in April and reviews. 

We have had a donation of £1,000 from a very generous donor, which has gone part of the way. The full cost has come to a little over £2,000. This is the first time we have had a pupil at Cece Primary School in such need of help. We have twelve pupils with HIV, but their condition is well controlled with drugs from the local hospital and to look at them you would never guess that they had any health problems at all. There are also children with minor hearing or sight impairments, but who are getting on fine. 

I have been reassured by Opportunity through Education (our supporting charity) that OTE’s overarching criteria for assistance is relief of poverty. As nothing could have been done for Saluwa without the help she has received and she will be enabled to reach her educational potential, there is no problem from that perspective. My email address is rebeccamallinson1@hotmail.co.uk. Please get in touch if you are able to help.