My Children

I have spoken often of the Baby Creche, and of the children there who I love so dearly. Though some of the children there are only there for a few weeks or months before some member of their family comes to claim them, many have no hope of family ever coming to get them. They will live in an orphanage until they are adults, or if they are lucky, until they are adopted.
I wanted to take some time today to introduce you to some of these precious and beautiful children.

 
 
Madeline

Madeline is an active and precocious 5 year old. She is the oldest child at the Baby Creche. Madeline suffers from cerebral palsy. Hers is a mild case, but she struggles with her balance and still walks like a toddler. Her muscle tone is poor and she is very thin. She also appears to have learning disabilities, and does not attend school like other children her age. Schools here in Congo seem to have little to no facilities or inclination to teach children with disabilities, and it is unlikely that she will ever attend school. She can be bossy, even though she does no speak, and is somewhat of a big sister to the younger children, giving kisses and hugs when she is in a good mood. She craves attention and loves piggy back rides and blowing bubbles.


 
Dastan

Dastan is one of the older boys. He is a cheerful, strong willed boy with a cheeky grin. He loves to play in the sand, digging holes in the ground. He also loves snack time, and will begin picking up the toys when he sees us getting out the snacks (We do not give out snack until all of the toys have been picked up and put away).


 
Owen

Owen is a happy little boy with a beautiful smile. He is similar to Dastan in appearance, age, and temperament, though perhaps a bit more shy. He follows Dastan's lead and the two frequently get into trouble together.


 
Fabio

Fabio is quieter and more sober than Dastan and Owen. He prefers to play on his own, or sit quietly while you read to him from a book.



Berenger

Berenger is thought to be somewhere between two and three years old, but he is small and underweight due to malnourishment. Despite the efforts of the people on the infant feeding program, he is failing to put on weight, mostly due to the fact that he refuses to eat anything unfamiliar to him, including the snacks that we bring when we visit. His legs are stick thin and very weak, so that he cannot walk or crawl. Berenger is a very sober and withdrawn child. Despite our best efforts, it is very difficult to get him to smile. Once you have picked him up, you have committed yourself, because he is desperate for physical contact and will cry and scream if you make any attempt to put him down.

 
Sebastian

Sebastian is similar in age to Berenger and is also malnourished. Like Berenger he has failed to put on weight and frequently refuses food. He is not strong enough to crawl on his hands and knees, and has developed his own sort of floppy army-crawl style to get around. He is fiercely independent and will fight the older boys if they try to take his toy. His hips are double-jointed and he is often seen lying or sitting with his legs in the split position. He is easily distinguished by the discolored patches of skin on either side of his nose. 

Alexandre

In appearance, Alexandre could be Sebastian's twin brother, though they are not related. He is also malnourished and unable to walk. He can crawl, and uses that to his full advantage. He loves to eat, and will hopefully continue to gain weight over the next few months.

 
Demetri

Demetri is one of the younger boys at the Baby Creche. He is thought to be somewhere around a year old. He is not walking yet, but it will not take him much longer to master that skill. He is such a happy little boy and loves to clap his hands and do motions when you sing his favorite nursery song. He badly burned his face one day when he grabbed a bowl of boiling hot porridge from the table, splattering it all over himself, and now his face is permanently scarred.


Malkiat

My precious Malkiat. When we first arrived in Congo, Malkiat was fourteen months old and weighed only six pounds! He was placed on the infant feeding program, and recently has begun putting on weight. At twenty months old, he now weighs nearly ten pounds and looks almost chubby compared to when I first saw him. He could not roll over or even lift his head when we first arrived, but now he can sit up on his own, and hopefully he will soon be crawling. Malkiat is a people watcher, and likes to be held in such a way that he can watch what is going on around him.

These are the children who have such a tight hold on my heart. These are the children that I pray for every night. I hope that you will join me in praying for hopeful and bright futures for each and every one of them.

Mama Claire

I remembered her from screening day, way back in August 2013.

 

Mama Claire was a tiny little woman, with a goiter larger than her head. It was the largest goiter I have ever seen. But she had such a sweet smile, and as I would soon learn, a wonderful sense of humor.
She arrived on the ship with her daughter. Mama Claire had had her goiter for so long that her daughter could not remember her without it.

Mama Claire and her daughter

Mama Claire and her surgeon

She wasn't in the hospital for long, but she won our hearts in that short time.
Mama Claire went home with her daughter, with one of the biggest smiles that I have seen since I have been here.

 

 

Healing with Love

Recently I have been thinking about life down in the hospital, and why we (the nurses) are here.

Of course, we are here to provide the obvious medical care that is needed before and after surgery, but that is only part of our job. True, our patients need their medications and wound care, and we need to do our assessments, but often what our patients need more than any medication is love and unconditional acceptance.

Many of our patients come to us nervous, frightened, and ashamed. Nervous and frightened, because they have never been this far from home, have never been on a ship, and definitely not a hospital ship full of white people. For some of the children, it is there first time to every see a person with white skin. I have smiled at a newly admitted toddler before, only to have her scream and run away crying to her mother. Then there is the upcoming surgery for them to worry about. Add to that the shame that they bear because of their condition. Often our patients have been laughed at and ridiculed for their condition, if not outright rejected because they are thought to be cursed.

As the ones who will have the most interaction with the patients, we have the honor and privilege of being the ones who will have the greatest impact. We do what we can to make them feel safe. We are kind and gentle. We treat them as people of value. We laugh with them, smile with them, encourage them when they are down. For some of our patients, this is the most valuable thing that we can do for them. We cannot remove scars, and we cannot always make a person look "normal" Our surgeons do what they can, but they cannot work miracles. But with our love and encouragement they can still leave the ship with heads held high, knowing that they are not cursed. They are worthy of love and acceptance. And this will make more of a difference in their lives than any surgery. 

The Faces of Hope

Plastics patients and family with their surgeon and nurses

Recently we invited our patients from the first round of plastic surgeries to come back to the ship for a final evaluation and to say goodbye and thank you to their surgeons and nurses. It was such a blessing to see them with new life and new hope because of their surgeries. Some faces stand out most clearly in my mind. I would like to introduce you to them:

Sabrina and Brenda



Sabrina and Brenda

Sabrina and Brenda are sisters. They were both born with congenital syndactyly. Each of their feet only had three toes, with a large cleft between the large toe and the other two, looking something like a bird's feet. Some of their fingers were also fused together. 

I met Sabrina first. I was the nurse to admit her to the ward with her mother before her surgery. Sabrina and her mother were concerned for the welfare of the younger sister who was still at home, and was scheduled to come to the ship two days later. Because both daughters had been born deformed, the family had been ostracized, and there was no one to make sure that she would make it to the ship safely.

Of course, we made sure that Brenda did indeed make it to the ship and both girls had their surgeries. The surgeon closed the cleft in both girls feet, giving them feet that would look more "normal", though missing a few toes. The surgeon also separated Sabina's thumb and forefinger which had been fused together since birth, giving her a hand that was more functional and also looked more "normal".

Me with Sabrina, Brenda, and their Mother

 

A few days after their surgery, various members of their family began to visit, including their father. The girls were in the hospital for six weeks, and then they went home to a family that now accepted them.

They returned to the ship with bright smiles and new shoes on their feet. Shoes. On feet that looked like feet, even with open toed dress shoes.

 

Wearing Shoes!

Prince and Eli

Prince

Eli

Prince and Eli are twelve year old boys who both suffered from severe burns which resulted in burn contractures. Eli's hand was burned when he was only three years old, and what was left of his hand had fused closed into a fist. Prince had also suffered burns which had caused burn contractures to his wrist, leaving him unable to use his hand properly. The boys both received surgery to free their fingers and  were both so excited to see their hands, with the individual fingers separated and free. Eli's hand had been so severely burned that he had lost the top half of his fingers, but the surgeon separated out each individual finger to give him a better ability to grasp objects. Both boys were full of fun and laughter, and life was always an adventure with the two of them together on the ward.

Prince and Eli having fun on the ward

Prince and I

Eli goofing off in the ward

Neither boy liked the physical therapy exercises that they had to do to strengthen and stretch their fingers or the dressing changes which were painful, but they were so happy to have the use of their fingers once again. After spending a little more than a month on the ship, they both went home. They returned to see us one last time with hands healed and bright smiles, a reflection of a brighter hope for their lives.

Prince showing off his hand

Eli giving a thumbs up

Faces like these are why I wake up every day with a smile, knowing that I get to go to work, and serve these beautiful people.  Faces like these make everything worthwhile.