Warm Greetings,  Friend, 

We are waiting and praying. Our “Singing Midwife,” Hamdan (class of 2017), has been too close to the Ebola story. He is doing his internship at the hospital where one of the patients (brought there for testing) died. 

The good news is that he was not in contact with the patient, and Ebola transmission requires direct contact. The bad news is that there is no vaccine or effective treatment for this strain of the disease. 

More good news is that the outbreak is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, which is far from Lukaya and Kampala. The bad news is that Uganda shares a border with the districts where the outbreak began, and there is a lot of traffic from Congo going through Lukaya.

More good news is that the government has dictated strict SOPs for all schools, and Mustard Seed is ready to welcome students back for the second term on Monday. More bad news is that the weather has been conducive to the spread of flu and malaria, and many people are sick. Our friend, Dr. Peter, said it seems that the first-line treatments for malaria are no longer working. 

And for us, travel to Uganda in September is uncertain. If we were there today and were scheduled to fly home, we would be diverted to Dulles Airport and face enhanced screening before being cleared to go home. 

For now, we wait, and we pray for all of our lovely Ugandan family. The challenges and hardships they face would defeat most of us. I am so grateful to be involved, along with you, in making life better for over 800 of them. I’m eager for Mustard Seed students to be back at school, where there is a full-time nurse, a nutritious diet, weekly anti-malaria tea, and SOPs in effect. Thank you for helping to make all of that possible.

If we have any additional news, we will email you—not necessarily on Fridays.

Gratefully,
Elaine

P.S. The new school term begins on May 25th, and there are still several weeks that need breakfast funding. $13 buys breakfast for one student for the whole term. Buy Breakfast