One
of our surgeons often says that "everyone has the right to look
human." While all of our surgeries restore physical function and often
prevent death, they all also give the additional bonus of restoring
physical appearance. This gives them a literal chance at a new life
since those who look less than beautiful are shunned and outcast. We
rejoice in this, but is this somehow agreeing with societal claims that
the altered/edited version is better? Are we somehow proving the point
that what's on the outside DOES count?
Meet
Alice. A sweet young girl from Uganda. Like many of our plastics
patients, Alice was severely burned at a young age when she fell into a
fire. The fire consumed her head, face, and neck, leaving only scant
areas of skin and hair unscarred. Alice spent the past 6 months with
us, recovering from 3 surgeries that left her with a more mobile neck,
new eyelids and a new ear. Monday, her and her dad will fly back
to Uganda to be reunited with her mother and siblings.
A
few weeks after her surgery, I was changing the dressing on
her head/eye for several days in a row. This particular day, she was in
bed for most of the morning, quiet and not wanting to play. After I
changed her dressing, I told her I had a surprise for her so I made her
close her uncovered eye and when she opened it, I handed her a mirror.
I had added flowers and a pink bow to her bandage. She stared in the
mirror grinning ear to ear for
literally hours and then suddenly came alive dancing and singing and
laughing, prancing around the ward showing off her bandage while
everyone told her how beautiful she was. We went up to deck 7 later
that day, and her papa was on the phone. I wasn't paying much
attention until he handed her the phone and she squealed "Mama, I'm
beautiful!!!"
In
that moment, something shifted. She had a new found confidence and joy
when she shifted from hearing others say she is beautiful to actually
believing and knowing it was true for herself. The bandages were still
on, the incisions hadn't healed, her hair was still gone, and most of
her scars were actually still there too. She didn't look all that
different than before, but on the inside, she was a whole new kid.
So,
by doing her surgery and correcting her outward appearance, did we just
jump on society's beauty obsessed bandwagon? Maybe. Because here at
Mercy Ships, we ARE obsessed with beautiful things. Surgeries might
change the outside, but we know that only God can change the inside...
and when that change happens, that is a beautiful thing! What a
privilege it is to come along side Him to pour out His love, reminding
these sweet little patients how beautifully they were created.
Too
beautiful to be real? Nope! The most beautiful things are the most
alive, and Alice is more alive now than she's ever been.
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