February 2025 report: Some thoughts on Napak, and news of recent patients We have paused development of work in Napak. We've bought the land and had been about to start some building work, starting with a house for a guard. However although we already have some money from friends towards building, I don't want to start anything till all work is planned and estimated, I don't want any surprises after we have committed ourselves to building. We need to know much more before building in an area I've no experience of. We can already receive referrals through our partners there and we've identified CP as the biggest problem, we have reports on the causes of CP and are looking at what we can do about prevention. One possibility might be to employ our own staff and place them with a partner, perhaps a nurse or community worker to get us started. We could then begin to address the problem and learn a lot more about what we might need to build there. It had been our intention to model the Napak work on what we'd done at Minakulu, but Minakulu adjoined government and church health centres, whereas Napak looks like being stand alone meaning we'll have to provide additional facilities. So that's where we are at present. We're learning a lot about Napak, but that highlights what we don't know yet. I don't want unnecessary delay if children there need help, but we hope to develop an effective service by working with our partners, and to continue planning for the future. The following pictures show three of the first children we brought from Napak. Angolere Solomon Naduka Sarah Amen Emmanuel The boys pictured below, Ben and Ssekabira, were very straightforward for Acheru to treat, one for a foot injury, one for burns contractures. Both boys, however, suffered the effects of delays and neglect, reinforcing why we need to maintain our emphasis on community work to find children and increase awareness of what can be done for them. The foot injury should have been easy to treat but nothing was done for quite a while for two reasons we often encounter with a broken home meaning neither parent took responsibility, and a fear that there was witchcraft involved. The burnt hand was treated at the time, but nothing was done about the subsequent contractures. For both boys, their education was disrupted but now they're in school, Ssekabira free of pain and Ben able to write. A good outcome, but unfortunate that it's taken so long. We so often see the difference for children from a Christian family, however poor they may be, compared to those in the care of a single parent or grandparent who simply cannot care for them effectively. Waguma Ben Ssekabira LAUZA is a 3 year old girl staying with a single mother after being abandoned by the father. She was identified in an ACHERU outreach done in Kayunga district. She caught the attention of the team due to the pain caused by the wounds which are covering her whole body. Mother narrates that "she is my first baby and giving birth to her was my greatest joy. She came out with wounds on her body but they were not so severe. I stayed in the hospital for some more days when the wounds were being treated and was sent home with some medication and cream but they got worse. The local hospital couldn't manage, and I was referred to another big hospital . Ever since then I have never stopped walking hospital to hospital looking for treatment for my little girl. The father eventually got tired and left us, by the time he left I found out that I was pregnant with my second child who is now one year old". You can see from the picture the severity of Lauza's skin condition (Epidermis Bullosa) for which there is no cure. Acheru is now facilitating her transport and upkeep for treatment at Mulago, the main government hospital. She struggles to swallow and has only been drinking milk. Lauza Return to full Acheru website