A visiting friend here
in Moroto is sick. Badly sick, weak. He was never here before. He is now admitted
in hospital, scrawny, and feeling totally forlorn. The doctor established
multiple health problems in the boy’s city-bred body. First, he had unending
headache which jokingly graduated into malaria.
At the first clinic he
visited; yes, it was just malaria (I hope this clinic’s equipment is good, and
heavens only should know if the human resource is equally competent) and
nothing more. Accordingly, ‘coheartem’- (God knows I never learnt spellings of
drugs) and ordinary pain killer in -Panadol could do.
To my amazement, like a
booming business, the pain and heat instead worsened. Were the “corha…” and Panadol
expired? It needs a ‘rare’ faithful one from Drugs Authority to confirm. How? Yet,
boy, Karamoja is that far off, neglected, ignored and…who has time to stress
his back, strain his eyes, waste his money, time on a dusty dirty distant desert
business?
Anyway, a smarter hospital
doctor diagnosed that Jonathan did not only have malaria, he had typhoid too. Brucellosis
was also involved and a strange first-degree flue and dysentery were also in
the squared. He equally tested Hepatitis E
positive (at primary stage)!
Boy, although treatment
for Joni’s illness is guaranteed and all is expected to be fine, my friend is
so petrified. Scared that Karamoja soil may swallow him. But he will be good again;
the medic is quite impressed by his rapid response to drugs, although
injections seem to have gnarled his bottom badly.
Joni is definitely not alone, and Karamoja too might not be alone. Weather changes, - experts say equally withers welfare of all living things. Look here; during dry season, don’t harsh wind and drought shade off leaves of plants without consent? Likewise, the harsh realities of weather hits hard on human beings and other animals, domestic and wild. Thus, we need to beware! We ought to take caution. Let’s dress up by taking surveillance information seriously.
During rainy seasons,
we have seen screaming newspaper headlines on Karamoja roads and floods year in
and out. When this is happening, several disease outbreaks also divert
attention of our mothers from garden work. Mothers queue at health units with
their little ones waiting for treatment. Indeed, it’s partly because of this
desperate scenario that ghost clinics have cropped up in the region today.
A fortnight ago, the
health Ministry (in a one off health operation) sent a team to Moroto district and
boy, most of those clinics where we took our wounds for dressing have been
closed on account of lack of authenticity. Most of them according to my source
are not licensed and the medics who were bandaging our wounds are not trained!
May God make this right!
Worse still, as these
countless challenges head home this flood season, habitual opportunists will
not wait to do their usual dirty business. Gateway bus will jump the cost of transport
for reason that they get stuck on the chubby road and passengers sleep hungry,
others used extra coins to reach their destination. Here, God would expect the
service provider to reduce cost since the service gets insufficient, but ask
Gateway buses for more. Electricity power will now be on just - twice a week as
groundless excuses, “rain has struck a pole” stays permanent.
Reader, no time and space is
enough to describe a rot that will never be addressed. The problems of Karamoja
could be solved even in a day, if there was that will. However, since human
beings seem responsible for the multiplication of these evils so as to ensure apparent
multiplication of profits somewhere, we can only pray and wait like we do for
the second coming.
