Showing posts with label Mercy Ships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mercy Ships. Show all posts

Thursday, March 30, 2023

Girl, Six Starts School After Life Changing Surgery in Senegal

 Mercy Ships

PRESS RELEASE

Girl, Six, Starts School After Life-Changing Surgery in Senegal

Six-year-old Mariama from Sedhiou in Senegal, West Africa, was just four when her legs began to bend outwards.

DAKAR, Senegal, March 20, 2023/ -- A mother who feared her daughter could never go to school and thought her bowed legs were incurable is calling her transformation by a surgical charity ‘a miracle’.





Six-year-old Mariama from Sedhiou in Senegal, West Africa, was just four when her legs began to bend outwards.

Her mother, Sifaye, said: “When I noticed her legs like that, I was really worried. I wasn't able to sleep enough. I was so scared.”

Mariama’s condition worsened as she grew, and her mother was concerned she would face more and more isolation. She could not run and jump like her friends and became self-conscious.

“Her friends laughed at her because she couldn’t walk fast or run, she was always behind,” Sifaye added.

Her parents made the difficult decision to keep her out of school.

Sifaye, a mother of four, said: “The school is so far, that is why I didn't send her there. Because she can't walk a long distance without complaining that she was tired. If she went to school, she wouldn’t be able to walk back home.”

The family sought hard for a cure for the next year but found nothing.

Her mother said: “During that period, we tried every type of medicine, but nothing changed. When we took her to the hospital, they told us that they can’t cure her.”

They were told that her legs would likely continue to curve for the rest of her life.

A year later, in a village two hours away, Sifaye’s brother Mane heard about Mercy Ships, an international charity with two hospital ships that deliver free surgeries to those with little access to safe medical care. He met a member of the charity’s patient selection team assessing potential surgical patients.

Mane said, “He told me they would offer free surgeries for patients. He showed me photos of people they had already treated. The pictures of the previous patients convinced me. I wished the same for my niece.”

He immediately told his sister.

Despite the fact that Sifaye was full of fear and had never travelled more than two hours from her home village, she travelled two days with her daughter to get to the port of Dakar, where the hospital ship the Africa Mercy was docked.

Sifaye said, “I was absolutely afraid of taking her [Mariama] to the ship.”

She said the first few days were constant bouts of homesickness, but the team on board quickly made them feel at home. For the first time, they also met children with conditions like Mariama’s.

“I was happy to meet other mothers who knew what I was going through, and it was good for Mariama to see she was not alone,” Sifaye said.

Volunteer orthopedic surgeon Dr. Stan Kinsch from Luxembourg, who treated Mariama, says that bowed legs can occur due to malnutrition.

Unfortunately, due to inadequate medical access in some African countries, the condition is more prevalent on the continent compared to other parts of the world.

“In developed countries, these conditions are treated early so they don’t require surgery. But here they are recognized late, and appropriate treatment isn’t available, so they develop into extreme forms,” said Dr. Kinsch.

After surgery and three months of physiotherapy, Sifaye and Mariama were ready to go home.

When Sifaye saw her daughter’s straight legs for the first time, she was overwhelmed with joy.

She exclaimed, “I was so surprised; I thought her legs would always be bent for the rest of her life. Seeing them like that today was wonderful. We were never going to afford to get her surgery, so this is a miracle for us.”

Mariama has now successfully started school.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mercy Ships.

Notes to editors:

Mercy Ships operates hospital ships that deliver free surgeries and other healthcare services to those with little access to safe medical care. An international faith-based organization, Mercy Ships has focused entirely on partnering with African nations for the past three decades. Working with in-country partners, Mercy Ships also provides training to local healthcare professionals and supports the construction of in-country medical infrastructure to leave a lasting impact. 

Each year, more than 3,000 volunteer professionals from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy® and the Global Mercy™. Professionals such as surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, and engineers dedicate their time and skills to accelerate access to safe surgical, obstetric and anesthetic care. Mercy Ships was founded in 1978 and has offices in 16 countries as well as an Africa Service Center in Dakar, Senegal. For more information, visit www.MercyShips.org and follow @MercyShips on social media.

For More Information Contact:

Saran Kaba WAGUÉ

APO Group

saran.kaba-wague@apo-opa.com


SOURCE

Mercy Ships


Monday, December 5, 2022

Girl Starts School with Confident Smile after Surgery

PRESS RELEASE
Girl Starts School with Confident Smile after Surgery
Aissatou from Louga, in northwestern Senegal, was born with a cleft lip and palate, and the stigma around the condition in her home village left her trapped at home

Access Multimedia Content

DAKAR, Senegal, December 5, 2022/ -- A little girl has been able to start school with her new confident smile after receiving surgery from a medical charity to treat a birth defect.

Aissatou from Louga, in northwestern Senegal, was born with a cleft lip and palate, and the stigma around the condition in her home village left her trapped at home, isolated and withdrawn.

Due to the unkind reaction she received, and the difficulties the condition brought, her father Ousmane and mother Khadija did their best to protect Aissatou. They felt the need to cover her head in public and felt forced into a decision to keep her out of school.

Left untreated, a cleft lip and palate can lead to difficulties eating, drinking, speaking, and hearing loss.

Farmer Ousmane used the proceeds from his harvest every year to try and find someone to repair his infant daughter’s cleft lip and palate. But every year, he was disappointed.

Ousmane said: “I love my daughter so much, I would never stop looking for her healing.”

In 2019, when Aissatou was just a toddler, Ousmane heard that a hospital ship from international aid charity Mercy Ships was coming to the port of Dakar to provide free surgeries and medical training.

He made the journey to the port with Aissatou, and they were thrilled to receive a surgery appointment. But the joy was short-lived as the operation had to be delayed due to COVID-19.

Ousmane and Aissatou had to return home and wait for the ship to return.

He said: “In my heart I knew that these people would help my daughter. I just kept praying and hoping that the ship would return.”

Aissatou was four years old when she boarded the Africa Mercy hospital ship in 2022 for surgery.

 Despite being a curious little girl full of life she only played alone and not with other children on board.

Ousmane came with Aissatou as a caregiver, while her mother Khadija waited anxiously at home, “I couldn't eat or drink,” she said.

Aissatou’s father, Ousmane was also nervous, “during the surgery I was afraid,” he said as he recalled the difficult hours of waiting.

“I don't know anything about surgery, and I had no idea what was happening. It took a long time before she came back, but when she came back, I was so happy!”

Once the bandages were off, Ousmane and his daughter could both see the transformation. Where before Aissatou’s cleft had been, there was smooth skin. Aissatou stared at herself in the mirror, looking fascinated.

Senegalese translator Boubacar Diallo who worked on the ship during Aissatou’s stay on board her joy was contagious.

He said, “The first thing I see changing on her is the smile. After the surgery she was smiling all the time.

“After surgery she was free. Playing and running everywhere, playing with other kids. She was dancing a lot.”

Her father said: “Her life will change so much now. She will be able to speak properly and go to school.”

When Aissatou returned home, some of those changes were evident immediately. She was embraced by her village and no longer hid her face. She started school, began playing with the other children and helped her father on the farm.

One of the village elders shared: “We had lost all hope. We thought she was going to die like this. Nobody believed that she would be healed.”
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Mercy Ships.
 
About Mercy Ships:
Global health for the last two decades has focused on individual diseases, while surgical care in low-resource countries has not received the attention it needs. Lack of surgical care resulted in almost 17 million deaths annually.

Mercy Ships is an international faith-based organization that operates hospital ships to deliver free, world-class healthcare services, medical capacity building, and health system strengthening to those with little access to safe surgical care. Since 1978, Mercy Ships has worked in more than 55 countries, with the last three decades focused entirely on partnering with African nations. Each year, volunteer professionals from over 60 countries serve on board the world’s two largest non-governmental hospital ships, the Africa Mercy® and the Global Mercy™. Professionals such as surgeons, dentists, nurses, health trainers, cooks, and engineers dedicate their time and skills to the cause. Mercy Ships has offices in 16 countries and an Africa Bureau. For more information, visit www.Mercyships.org and follow us @MercyShips on social media.

SOURCE
Mercy Ships