From October 12-26, 2012, the CURE Kenya hospital was all smiles. Although all CURE hospitals are usually happy places, the smiles were especially bright thanks to our friends at Smile Network International.
Smile Network is a Minnesota-based non-profit which funds surgical missions and provides necessary supplies and surgical teams to repair birth defects such as cleft lips and palates. Read the rest of this entry »
Husseini before.
Husseini Elhadj Omarou was born with cleft lip. His twin brother, Hassane, was also born with cleft lip. Hassane and Hussein are popular names for twins here in Niger. If you meet a Hassane or a Hussein, chances are they have a twin brother. Both Hassane and Husseini grew up dealing with their cleft lip, and it was not easy. Twins are already viewed as suspicious, and twins with matching cleft lips would be considered very bad luck. Luckily, they had each other for support. They were brothers and they took care of each other. Also, their father was the imam of the village, so nobody said anything to them. But when they went to other villages, people made fun of them and pointed and laughed, but life goes on. Hassane and Husseini grew up, and both got married and had children. Then Hassane died.
Now Husseini is 47 years old. His twin brother is gone, but he has other brothers, and they take care of him as well. Brothers are important in this family. Husseini’s brothers are also imams. Imams are also important in this family. Mahamadou is Husseini’s older brother. He took his father’s place as the imam of the village. Halidou is Husseini’s younger brother. He is also an imam, but here in Niamey. They both came with Husseini to the CURE hospital, and all sat down in a row according to their order of birth. It did not seem like they sat that way intentionally but out of habit.
Brothers
We asked them to tell us their story and how they came to the hospital. Mahamadou did most of the talking. He spoke on behalf of Husseini, and spoke as one who is used to speaking on behalf of the family. But he was not overbearing. He seemed like a kind and gentle older brother. Husseini did not hesitate to interject every once in awhile, but he was hard to understand. We met with him once before the operation, and his words were slurred because of the extent of the cleft lip. When we met with him after the operation, he was hard to understand because of the swelling. Halidou, for his part, mostly sat and listened. But he smiled in a friendly way, and nodded his head in agreement with everything that his brothers said.
The three brothers come from a village called Chinyerga, in the region of Sanam. It is in the desert. They are Tuareg, but they also speak Hausa. Their village is very remote, only about 300 km from Niamey, but in reality, worlds away. Over the years, Husseini made friends with a military man who is stationed in a town near his village. He would often go and visit him, especially on market days when he would be in town anyway. One day his friend told him that he had heard about a hospital in Niamey that treats cleft lips. Husseini was interested but not convinced. His friend told him that he would try to get more information about the hospital on his next trip to Niamey. He left, and when he came back he was excited to see Husseini. He brought before and after pictures of cleft lip patients that had been treated at the CURE hospital. This was all the proof Husseini needed. He started making plans to come to Niamey and immediately told his brothers about the hospital.
Husseini after.
Husseini knew that he would need money for his trip. The city is an expensive place. But he had nothing. So he decided to go to a place nearby that is known for its gold and its goldmines. These are not mines that are run by an enterprise or organization, just individual panhandlers. Husseini went and started digging for gold, but he knew that he was digging for a cure. Eventually he dug up enough, took it to the market and sold it for cash. Now he was ready.
The operation was a great success, and Husseini’s lip has healed wonderfully. He even started growing a mustache! He and his brothers were very happy with their experience at CURE, and told us over and over again how impressed they were with the warm reception they received. “You treat everyone the same,” Mahamadou said. “It does not matter if they are black or white, or Hausa, Tuareg or Djerma. Everyone is treated like a member of the family.” In other words, everyone is treated like a brother.
Originally posted at: http://joshjulieblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/01/digging-for-a-cure/.
This has been another busy week at the CURE hospital. We had a cleft lip camp, which started on Sunday and is now winding down. A group of doctors from Switzerland came to help out, and most of the patients have come through Sentinelles. It is great having so many little kids running around the hospital, laughing and playing.
On the first or second day of camp, Hassane and I were walking through the ward, and it was full of the kids that were recovering from surgery. They were pitiful-looking, all swollen lips, tears, and drool. But most of them seemed to be taking it well, and a few even managed a smile, or as much of a smile as their swollen faces would permit. But one of them, Sagirou, was crying. He was a bit younger than the others, and it seemed like he just didn’t want to be in there anymore. We asked him if he was in pain, and he said no, but just kept crying. Hassane picked him up and started walking around with him, and he calmed down a little, so we asked if he could come out with us for a bit. The nurses said ok, so Hassane put him down and we walked out into the sun. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahamadou and Harouna
Mahamadou Abdoul-Rahim is a dignified Hausa gentleman from a village near Tahoua. He came to the CURE hospital with his six-year-old son, Harouna, who was born with cleft lip. Harouna was full of energy, always running around, and talking on the toy cell phone that he found at the hospital. He took it everywhere with him. Mahamadou, on the other hand, was a quiet man who never really said much and had a sad smile. I noticed a few things about him: he took good care of Harouna, he walked with a limp, and he carried a cane. After a few weeks at the hospital he told us his story.
Mahamadou was married to his wife Faida for many years. They were happy together and had a large family. But when Harouna was born with cleft lip, Mahamadou was very upset. He couldn’t imagine that his wife had given birth to a child with such a defect, especially since she had already given him eight other children that were perfectly healthy. It upset him so much that he decided to leave her and take a new wife. Faida and Harouna still lived with Mahamadou, but he rejected them. They were not kicked out of the house, but they were set aside and Mahamadou took a new wife. She soon gave birth to another baby. It seemed as though Faida and Harouna would be totally forgotten. Read the rest of this entry »
art therapy session
This last week has been crazy (in a good way). We had a medical team come to the hospital to run the cleft lip and palate camp, and it was a great success. Over 30 kids came from Maradi and Tessaoua, two towns east of Niamey, deep in Hausaland. Some of them came with their parents or grandparents, but quite of few of them were brought by a group of nurses that work for another NGO that we partner with, and it was really impressive to see 6 or 7 year old kids, thousands of kilometers away from their families, undergoing surgeries surrounded by strangers, and still having a great attitude. Read the rest of this entry »
Group art therapy session yesterday! It was fabulous. I just love being able to spend time with these kids who have come to CURE for a surgical camp on cleft lip and palate. You wouldn’t believe the focused and calm nature about them. Some of them were so involved in their coloring that they barely switched colors. Others treated their paper so carefully and wanted advice on each and every mark they made, for fear of ruining their work. Some of the kids started off very unsure of how to hold their crayon and were pleasantly surprised with themselves when they stepped back from their work to realize that they had created all the color on their page! It was so exciting for me to get in and have fun with these kids whose faces would beam the moment you’d tell them they were doing a good job. I feel so blessed to be able to glean perspective/joy/life from these kids. They teach me more than I could have ever learned in school. Read the rest of this entry »
CURE Hospital of Niger received some special guests three days ago for a surgery camp.
Fifteen children came from Zinder (1000 km from Niamey) under the responsibility of Sentinelles, a partner charity organisation.
The lovely, innocent, smiling group was composed of three young girls and seventeen young boys who will be the subject of the attention of all the staff during this running week. Each child is here for surgery for cleft lip.
The tireless surgeon Dr. Negrini programmed three interventions per day, and the time of my writing, nine out of twenty have received their miracle.
A few weeks ago CURE Zambia was extremely fortunate to have Rupiah Banda, President of the Republic of Zambia, come and visit our facility. When he arrived, he was greeted by a bevy of CURE Zambia staff members, press, and notable public servants. But the face that stood out the most was that of Susan, a 13-year-old from a tiny village in Zambia’s Luapula Province, who was selected to present the Zambian head of state a bouquet of flowers. You see, Susan was born with a cleft lip that had never been repaired. As it turns out, the president’s visit to CURE Zambia was only the background event—Susan’s story was the real story. Read the rest of this entry »
Hello Pastor,
Just to thank you for the spiritual support that you gave us during the surgery for our daughter Mariam, Thanking God Almighty… He has returned the form and the use of her lips. It is an opportunity for me to thank the Lord who has kindly bestowed His mercy. I also thank all staff of the CURE Children’s Hospital. In recognition, I hope with my skills that I could volunteer during my days off to bring my modest contribution to charity rewarded by our Lord Almighty. My daughter for whom I am addressing you today can not speak because she is only 6 months old. If not, she would have found more than I did the right words to thank her Lord.
Mr. Mohamed Abdoulkader
Your former student
to serve you at all times in all places.
Habtam is a beautiful, young woman from Ethiopia. If you could meet Habtam today, you would be struck by her bright, engaging smile and consider her a happy person. But Habtam’s smile reflects more than just a sweet and joyful disposition. Her smile represents the physical and spiritual healing she found at CURE Ethiopia Children’s Hospital.
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