Fenosoa

A beautiful story reblogged from "Through a Porthole".  Enjoy!

Over several weeks I spent a bunch of time hanging out with Fenosoa and his grandfather Denis. Their very special relationship under-girds an epic journey to seek help for the five-year old’s worsening medical condition.

Although Fenosoa’s family live in the same village, he shares a hut with his grandfather “because he loves me,” explains Papa Denis with his two-tooth grin. It was Papa Denis who heard the radio broadcast about Mercy Ships coming to Madagascar to provide specific free surgeries. They were elated. Fenosoa had been born with a cyst on the side of his abdomen. It grew along with the boy and sometimes made him loose his balance. The cyst resembled an old-fashioned water canteen tucked beneath his skin.

                                 Papa Denis and Fenosoa have a unique connection (Pic: Ruben Plomp)

So, 86 year-old Papa Denis and his beloved grandson began their intrepid expedition to seek help. Together with a friend to carry their supplies, they walked for five days through bush-lands to reach the nearest public transport. Over three more days, mini buses brought them progressively closer to their destination; the Mercy Ship and the surgery the little boy desperately needed.

Fenosoa is the youngest person from his isolated village to journey to the coast. A hospital ship is going to be a tough one for Fenosoa to explain to his playmates. He thought hard as he happily doodled his cowboy coloring book, sitting on his bed in the ward. “The ship is so big,  it looks like a village!” was the only way he could describe it.

The boy and his Grandfather maintain an endless conversation, and their love for each other is deeply moving.  When the 500 gram cyst was removed, Fenosoa declared to us both, “I don’t know what happened. I was sleeping, and when I woke up, it was gone!”

Fenosoa couldn’t wait to get back to his village. Back to endless soccer matches and marbles; rowdy games played by little boys around the world regardless of the language they speak.

My heart and prayers went with them on the journey back to their village. The elderly man and oh-so-little boy said they were ‘taking it easy’ after the surgery – walking for six days to cover the distance instead of five. Life is hard for most,  in this beautiful nation.