Though I have so much to say, I am going to try and make this short. At this moment, I only have five hours of sleep until our next wake up call. Then it’s off to the hospital for Day 2 of Surgery Week.
Today there were more than 30 surgeries scheduled and more than 50 new people showed up for screening, which they missed this past weekend, in hopes to still be eligible for surgery. There were many affected with cleft lips and cleft palates; some were approved and placed on the surgery schedule as early as this afternoon.
Each day, I am more moved by the people we meet. I met a man named Haron. He was born in 1984, a year after I was. When he was three, he was severely burned (hands, body, all over his face, his eyes, his head). Despite his serious disfigurement, he greeted me and others with a smile and you could see and feel his immense kindness. As he shared some of his story, he pulled out an article in the newspaper that was written up about him three years before (the article was an appeal for other locals to donate what they could and join together to help him receive the surgery he needed).
Haron said he stopped going to school early on, as his eyesight was very bad from the burns and it made it difficult for him to learn. I imagine that his appearance also made it difficult, and that some students did not show the same kindness to him. It was empowering to know that he continued on, is now married with three children. He has been the stay-at-home dad and his wife supports the family with odd jobs. He is hoping that he soon can get a full time job and be the one to support his family. In the article, his wife said that she has the best husband. She married him because she knew he was a good man and did not care about the way he looked on the outside. I am in awe of his courage, positive spirit, and determination to carry on.
The other joyful part of my day was babysitting a beautiful tribal baby! I still don’t even know her name since it is difficult to communicate with her mother. Her mother is the woman from the Turkana Tribe and she was receiving surgery today. She had a bad burn on her mouth and bottom lip. Her bottom lip was so tight from the scarring that it basically wasn’t there or was immovable. She also had some teeth that needed to be extracted in order to make it more functional after the surgery. Though it was hard to communicate, a smile is a universal language. After we exchange smiles, we were connected. She let me get a photo of her and her baby and then trusted us to watch her baby while she went into surgery.
This beautiful girl was in our care for many hours. After her mother was out of surgery, she still needed to rest and did not want the baby back right away. The little girl was less than a year and so cute and cuddly. I think I held her for a few hours straight; I LOVED every minute of it!
I am closing with a fun photos that made me smile and I hope they do the same for youJ
Patient named Griffin
Baby getting ready to go into surgery - with the Clinical Coordinator, Donna
Patient and his daughter, Agnes - both from Turkana Tribe
She was so sweet!
A beautiful smile, even before surgery
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