Written by George Ayieko
On Thursday 11th April St Bernadette Mary School closed for their mid-term break after a very busy three months. All the pupils & parents eagerly await sight of their report books and I noticed that although Mama Kalama was queueing up in Standard 7, her son Cosmos Kakunde was missing, knowing this boy it was very unusual for him to be absent. The mother then informed me that he had been bitten by a snake the previous night and she had taken him to the doctor before coming to St Bernadette Mary School to pick up Cosmos’ report book.
In the evening I visited the family to see how the boy was as it is our procedure to write up a report for the school records, I was not unduly concerned as I believed he had received proper medical treatment. On reaching the home I found the child sitting in front of the family house with his leg swollen with black strips, I had never saw this “treatment’ before for snake bite. I was flabbergasted to learn that the mother took him to the witch doctor not a proper medical doctor, and the witch doctor had painted his foot & leg with black stripes which were supposed to cure the poison from the bite.
Thankfully Cosmos was not bitten one of the more venomous snakes otherwise he would be dead. We are now taking him to the medical centre this morning to get the proper medication and we are hoping he will not have any lasting medical issues due to the time lapse between getting the bite and receiving proper medical treatment.
It does sound unbelievable that in this 21st century people still go for witch doctor for medication but firstly it is highly unlikely that Mama Kalama has received any education whatsoever so she has grown up in fear of the Witch Doctor and how “powerful” he is within the community. Secondly the family have no money to pay for a trip to the clinic, you can see from the photos that they life that live is a struggle on a daily basis, money for medical treatment is not an option.
Seeing the plight of Cosmos and his family makes us all realise the importance of St Bernadette Mary School as education is the only way forward for these poor people. We also have to say Asante Sana to DAFA whose generous donation is paying for all our medical costs throughout 2013 at both The Good Life Orphanage and St Bernadette Mary School
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.†Nelson Mandela
Thank the lord he has the GLO and the school looking out for him
The parents just don’t know any different and the cost of a doctor
was probabaly the difference in the family eating a meal or all going hungry
It is a tough old life these people have to face
Once again thank the Lord he has you xx
How grateful I am that George does a follow up to check on the pupils, who knows what the outcome would have been. These children are the few fortunate ones. I hope Hassan has a speedy recovery.
We Glo and St BM give Much and many thanks to DAFA generous support towards Glo and St BM medical cost.It could be very difficult to handle these cases without your support.
With lots of thanks,
Glo and ST BM family.
Cosmos had such a lucky escape. The Goodlife are doing a wonderful job highlighting this case as the next child to be bitten might not be as lucky as Cosmos. Health promotion needs to be provided for these kids to help them educate their parents who didn’t have the chance of an education and to keep everyone from serious harm. St Bernadette Mary school is the perfect place to provide such health promotion and they are doing a wonderful job not only benefitting the children who are enrolled their but their families and the entire community. I wish I had of been there to help with this visit George.
A very worrying incident which I suppose could happen at any time. Thankfully Cosmos, who is a great lad in every sense, is on the mend .I wish him a rapid recovery and hope he is playing football again soon !!
The next generation of parents who will have come through the St Mary /Bernadette school,
(with an excellent education), will all be sure as to how to react in potentially dangerous medical situations and seek expert help immediately .
A great example of real help from DAFA.Well done !!
best wishes to all at GLO and school .
Brendan .
As the rest of the school went for the April holiday.A group of teachers we volunteered to help the weak learners in class 7 & class 8,during this holiday to enable them catch up with the rest when schools open for the second term on 7th May.Thankfully Cosmos Kakunde is one of the pupils who has reported to school today,he’s feeling a bit better but a bit shocked by the situation.The counseling team at school will be talking to him at 10am.However,we are truly thankful to DAFA for the continued unmatched generous support.May the Almighty father bless