Shauen & Krista Trump

Today I heard a great adage from one of my TEE students. We were talking about when big (read that as "powerful") men get into fights - like the recent conflict between the Kabaka (tribal king) and the Government (see our September 2009 Field Notes - PDF file, 215k). My student said,

When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.

This week we celebrate the one-year anniversary of our arrival on the Ugandan mission field. What a blessed year it has been! Thank you for being a part of God's work here in Uganda through your prayers, encouragement, emails, letters, packages, and financial support. May God continue to richly bless you as you have blessed us.  -Shauen, Krista, and Josiah

Josiah's safe arrival has been widely celebrated both in America and in Uganda. We have received hundreds of congratulation emails from our family, friends, and supporters in the States. Likewise, here in Uganda Josiah has also received a warm welcome. While the shortened form of "congratulations" in America is "congrats," here in Uganda we hear "congs!" I have to admit, it took me a while to figure out what "congs" meant. 

We have also received visitors who come to our apartment and see Josiah. We're a little in the dark about how to host these visitors who often stop by unexpectedly but generally stay for only a short while. But it's a pleasure to share our joy with all of our friends here. Some visitors even bring a small cash gift for Josiah according to local tradition! We praise the Lord for Josiah and for the congratulations, congrats, and congs we've received from friends here and abroad.  -Shauen

You can tell a little about a country from what gets smuggled into it. The Uganda Revenue Authority today named the 10 most-smuggled products illegally entering Uganda (usually being smuggled to avoid paying taxes):

• polythene (clear plastic) bags
• mobile phones
• motorcycles
• Bitengi fabrics (not quite sure what these are)
• counterfeit cosmetics products
• fabrics and garments originating from Asia
• rice
• cigarettes
• medical supplies
• precious minerals (most likely being transported out of the Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly known as Zaire, or Sudan)

I wonder what America's list looks like.  -Shauen

Among the myriad of vendors selling things on the side of the road you can find a guy with a whole handful of what look like little satchels made out of leaves. They're only a couple inches long and they're tied at the top with some fiber from some bush or tree. They contain something - I don't think you can open it without destroying it.

It's prudent to start low when buying things on the side of the road, so I handed a vendor 100 Shillings, about 5 cents. There was no haggling - 5 cents bought me two of these little bags of what turned out to be sun-dried coffee beans. No, not roasted beans, not chocolate-covered beans. Just sun-dried coffee beans still in their "shell."  When I got home I asked Rasul, the young man who works at our apartment, what to do with these little bags of coffee beans. We each took a bag and he showed me how to break open the shell of the coffee bean and chew the bean itself. It's a messy process 'cause you have a lot of shell pieces left over and you can spit out the bean itself after chewing it. 

If I had a commute longer than the walk from my bedroom to my desk in the living room, I'd probably pick up one of these on my way to work. It's kinda the local equivalent of the Starbucks drive-through... okay, at 5 cents for 2, maybe it's the McDonald's drive-through.  -Shauen

~ Krista watches as Shauen baptizes Josiah w/ Jerome assisting ~ Today, Christmas Day, was the most important day in Josiah's life. It couldn't wait until Grandma arrives on January 10th. It couldn't wait until the next convenient Sunday. It couldn't wait until we could scrape together the money to buy samosas and soda pop for the congregation according to local tradition. No, Josiah (just like the rest of us) needed this particular blessing too much to delay it. So today, at Christmas Day service - the first time we have had the opportunity to worship together as the body of Christ - today Josiah Michael Trump's heathen self was put off and he became a Christian. Today, Josiah was baptized.

Josiah's sponsors (Godparents) are Scott, who lives in Colorado, and Beth, who works in Sudan. Neither could be here for the baptism itself, so we asked fellow missionary Reverend Jacob Gillard and his wife Michelle to stand as witnesses and answer on behalf of Josiah's sponsors. Krista held Josiah as I began the baptism liturgy. He was wearing the cutest little white onesie baptism outfit that we had picked up in the States. What joy I felt in my heart as I took my newborn child in my arms and generously poured that water over his head with those amazing words, "Josiah, I baptize you in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit." And right there, before our very eyes, God put His mark on Josiah, that indelible tattoo that says, "This child is mine." With that water and God's amazing words of promise, God placed into Josiah a saving faith. How amazing that this child, who cannot even express himself, who thinks without even language, who was born sinful, can receive already God's most amazing gift!

Josiah didn't make a peep - he just looked up at me with those big brown eyes as I baptized him. And what joy I felt as I walked Josiah through the congregetion introducing him as the newest Christian. Josiah, my child, on Christmas day you can celebrate that Christ Jesus not only came into the world for you but also called you to himself. I can't imagine a more amazing present. Merry Christmas, Josiah.  -Shauen

~ Christmas Poinsettia and Christmas Tree ~ Merry Christmas to all of our family, friends, and supporters! We have been able to do quite a few things to make our home feel like Christmas as we know it. We did most of our decorating earlier in December since we knew we could well be occupied with a baby as Christmas approached - which is exactly what has happened! We bought a fake tree (that was NOT easy for this boy from the Pacific Northwest where only real trees will do - and it's best if you cut them yourself on the tree farm). We strung popcorn and made round sugar cookies that are colorfully frosted to hang as ornaments. We have a tin-foil star on top and bought one string of white lights. We have some red candles and our advent calendar helps us keep track of the days. We even have a bunch of presents under the tree - thanks to packages and hand-carried items from recent mission teams. We've hung red and white decorations that remind me of my Scandinavian roots and even bought a few poinsettias for around the house. We're playing our favorite Christmas music although we aren't even dreaming of a white Christmas this year. With some apple juice, orange slices, cloves, and cinnamon on the stove it feels downright festive!

~ Our Christmas Tree ~  Today we will go to church for Christmas service and then celebrate a Christmas dinner with friends - 6 adults total and one newborn. We have a friend staying a few days with us who has been an amazing help - she's so generous and more than willing to lend a hand wherever she can. When we were in the hospital yesterday treating Josiah's jaundice, our friend dove into our cupboards and made the eggless eggnog and the corn casserole for today's dinner.  She's taken it upon herself to do anything and everything to help us out around the house as we (admittedly clumsily) adjust to being parents.  Christmas dinner will include chicken (traditional for Christmas here in Uganda), onions, carrots, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn casserole, Stovetop Stuffing (a special treat from a care package), rolls with honey butter, and dill pickles (not my family's recipe but as close as we can get). Dessert will be apple pie and ice cream. Sweets also include peppermint bark (a Christmas present that came in a care package), chocolate covered pretzels (also from a care package), and Chinese New Year's Candies (made entirely with items unavailable here: chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, chow mein noodles, and skinless roasted peanuts). It should be an affair to remember! Later tonight we'll open our Christmas presents - we were too exhausted after returning from the hospital yesterday.

Merry Christmas to all!  -Shauen

~ Josiah under phototherapy lights ~ Notice a trend? Seems our lives have a new factor monopolizing a bit of our time! Today we went in to the immunization clinic to get Josiah's first set of shots and while we were there we stopped to see our pediatrician 'cause Josiah was looking a bit yellow.

A VERY traumatic blood-draw (two of the three of us cried) confirmed that he has some elevated bilirubin levels (that's what causes the yellow of jaundice - I've learned SO much in the past few days about babies!). Bilirubin is a component of red blood cells. Basically, a baby's liver may not quite be able to keep up with the breakdown of the excess fetal red blood cells in part because they aren't flushing as much out of their system until breastfeeding really takes off and they're rehydrated. Fortunately, a very specific wavelength of light helps the body bind the bilirubin and flush it out of the body as waste.

So our pediatrician admitted us to the hospital for 24 hours of phototherapy.  In the more developed world, phototherapy for a relatively mild case of jaundice would be treated by purchasing a phototherapy blanket, going home, and wrapping baby up in the blanket for a day or two. THAT sounds easy. Phototherapy here in Uganda is the old-school kind. And, as our nurse proudly told us, a very unique feature at our hospital - not all hospitals even have phototherapy facilities.

For phototherapy in the hospital, you put baby onto a plexiglass panel with bright blue lights above and below (that magic wavelength is in the blue part of the spectrum).  They wear only a diaper and something over their eyes. In the States they have these nice little sleep masks like on the airplane that protect baby's eyes from the bright lights. Here they take a whole bunch of gauze and wrap it up into a blindfold. It's functionally good but irritated Josiah's face and was too easy for him to grab with his little hands and pull off. The plexiglass is, of course, hard and the lights are bright. So we pretty much had to put him to sleep and then gently lower him onto the glass for as much light as he could get before waking up to feed. He needed to eat about every hour to keep hydrated and flush the bilirubin out.

All told, it was a sleepless night. The pediatrician drew a little blood again (he was very gentle - only one of us cried this time) and the levels had dropped enough for him to be willing to send Josiah home. So, for Christmas Eve we got to bring Josiah home again.  -Shauen

~ Shauen holds Josiah outside their hospital room ~ When I introduced Josiah I mentioned that you can stay as long as you'd like in the hospital - it's a for-profit enterprise and you must pay cash before you can leave. I'm sure you're asking, "How much does it cost to have a baby in Uganda?"  Here's our bill:

• Normal Delivery Package (prepaid rate includes 2 nights' accomodation in a private room and meals, normal delivery with no complications, and a checkup by the pediatrician): $515
• Nursing Care: $13
• Accommodation top-up (we had one of only two rooms in the hospital with a bathtub to help with pain-relief during labor, so it was billed higher than a standard private room): $103
• Doctor's Fee (after the first hour of pushing the on-call doctor came and backed up our midwife - her fee is not included in the hospital bill): $256
• Lab work: $11
• Oxygen administration and monitoring for baby: $77
• Drugs administered post-delivery (not pain drugs, mind you): $129

That's $1104 total to deliver a baby at the hospital, arriving at 1am and checking out about 37 hours later. It's a big chunk of cash to come up with but God provided for us in amazing ways. Now we submit the receipt to our Concordia Health Insurance and prayerfully and hopefully wait for reimbursement (you know how health insurance is with their deductibles and out-of-network deductibles and copay coinsurances and whatnot). Personally, I think they should cover the whole amount. After all, we've saved them a bundle by delivering Josiah here instead of in the States! -Shauen

~ Josiah Michael Trump ~We are pleased to be able to introduce Josiah Michael Trump! Josiah was born on Saturday at noon exactly after about 20 hours of labor and 3 and a half hours of pushing. That's right three and a half hours of pushing. Krista was very politely requesting an epidural after the 2nd hour of pushing but no epidural or entonox (nitrous oxide - laughing gas - and oxygen, commonly used in the UK during delivery) or any other pain medication was available. That's one of those things we knew wouldn't be an option when we decided to deliver Josiah here in Kampala. 

~ A Relieved Krista a Few Hours After Delivery ~ Josiah is a strong, healthy baby boy, weighing in at 7 lbs 0.1oz and measuring 19.7 inches long. The pediatrician put him on oxygen for a few hours because he was in a bit of distress after the prolonged pushing but he didn't like the oxygen tube around his head at all and instead opted to exercise his lungs in other ways. We endured a night at the hospital and gladly checked out on Sunday around 2pm. We could have stayed longer - hospitals are for-profit here and in general you can stay as long as you can pay. You must pay in cash so they don't have to worry about what your insurance will cover. We decided, though, after one night that we would rather enjoy learning about parenting at home, so we checked out and paid our bill.

Josiah is a great little guy. We feel completely lost. At one point I came back into the room and saw him there and my first thought was "Huh - there's a baby there."  Then I realized that baby is entrusted to US to care for! "That's MY baby there!" Welcome to life outside the womb, little man! -Shauen