Meet Christine

I feel awful when I think about how much I've taken my health care for granted. As a child I had no idea that vaccinations and dentist visits and getting your eyes dilated and ears probed was a blessing. In fact, I loathed it. I cried when I had to go for check-ups, hid behind counters when it was time for my shot, begged the dentist not to use his drill. As a child, health care was scary to me. As I got older, I started to learn that it was necessary to maintain the wellness of your body by enduring these appointments. Having dentist, optometrist, dermatologist, general practioner appointments was a chore, but I understood their importance. I took being on my father's health insurance for granted. How easy was it to schedule an appointment when I needed one? Have a horrific headache? Roll through the best ER in the country and pay a small copay. Fall from your bike and need a few stitches? Stop by to get sown up painlessly and quickly. Having a baby? Spend three days in a deluxe sweet complete with warm meals, hot tubs, epidurals and NICU services. Living with HIV? You can have access to the ARVs that will save your life and allow you to live a completely normal and healthy life.  And think of the preventative treatments we have access to! MRIs and cat scans detect tumors before they've become life-threatening. Cancer can be discovered before it spreads. Mental health illnesses can be treated before severe symptoms appear. Today in the United States the blind are seeing for the first time, the deaf listening to music, the paraplegics are walking!

When I was a kid I broke my two front teeth and someone fixed them. THEY GAVE ME NEW TEETH. And then I think about how sick my dad has been throughout the last couple of years. Shoulder surgeries, cancer scares, a hip replacement. Whenever his body starts to drop its parts he flies to the best specialist in the U.S. and he gets them fixed. I think about a family friend who had a quadruple bypass surgery. Someone in this country saved his heart and now he's playing golf, welcoming a whole handful of grandkids, vacationing. I think about my high school friend who battled cancer and scared us all. I remember how scared we were while we waited for him to get better. And now I'm imaging: WHAT IF. What if we didn't have access to the hospitals and doctors and surgeons and antibiotics and machinery that we have in this country? And what if we did have those hospitals, but we lived so far away from the nearest city, without a car or a cell phone, without any money for a taxi, with no one around to hitch a ride or offer help, so we couldn't even make there? What if that was my child? I keep thinking that could be my dad's story, my friend's story, my own story.

This little girl is Christine. A couple of years ago Christine had a bad fall climbing down the base of a mountain side to reach her home. During this fall she broke her left leg. Thankfully, JAM discovered Christine's needs and ensures that she is taken into Mbarara for her surgeries. One of the difficulties is that Christine's leg had already been healing without being set properly. After a few surgeries to save her leg, the doctors in Mbarara still wish to make the leg straight. In the mean time, Christine still must climb up and down the steep path to her home daily with wooden crutches and loose flip flops. And still that doesn't dim her smile. She is proud of her strength and she is thankful that JAM has helped her receive medical care 10 hours away from her home.

I keep thinking: if that had been my daughter. If she had been here in Chicago with me. She would have had a quick ride to the ER, a surgery scheduled that night with anesthesia, a bright pink cast for 6 weeks, a prescription for pain relief medication, physical therapy appointments. It's just not fair.

Juna Amagara has partnered with a local health clinic near Kishanje. They have a men's, women's and infant care ward. This clinic is a refuge for these people! Here they can receive prenatal care where a skilled doctor can determine if their pregnancy is at-risk and should be cared for in the city. They can be educated on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases they previously didn't know existed. They can be re hydrated, feed, nursed back to health. We need fortunate Americans (like you) to help fund projects like these. Projects that care for the basic healthcare needs of the people I love, that keep the people that I love alive.

I will never, ever take my health for granted again. Everyday that I wake up with all of my motors running smoothly is a day to be cherished and used wisely. When you think about your body that way you gain new perspective on how to use your body well. Have energy. Dance and sing. Do things with purpose. Work with your hands. Help those in need. Because you are so lucky.