Today's lovely story has been reblogged from "Through My Porthole" . . . You'll see the author is some of the pictures. We served together in Liberia in 2007.
Haingo became part of my heart as I watched and prayed through her
journey to healing. She arrived to us tottering on the brink between
life and death.
Haingo was born in a tropical downpour. Even in the hut’s dim light
it was clear Hiango’s tiny mouth was slashed by a bi-lateral cleft lip.
Her mother Viviaby’s joy turned to sadness, and her father immediately
rejected the newborn saying, “In our family we don’t have babies like
this!”
No one in their Madagascan village had ever heard of this
disfigurement. “Is it because of something that I did?” Vivaby wondered.
“But I am a Christian, we have nothing taboo (cursed). If God gave her
to me like she is, He knows how to take care of her.” But the visible
deformity was the least of Haingo’s problems.
The situation became dire as days passed and Haingo was unable to
breastfeed because of her cleft palate. The hole in the roof of her
mouth prevented Haingo from sucking. She cried incessantly. Her father
said, ‘It’s not going to survive so you’d better kill it!” Her mother
declared, “Let her live!”
Viviaby told me she kept Haingo alive with diluted canned milk –
each can costing a day’s wages. Then she began to cook rice, grind it
with sugar and feed it to the hungry baby. Still Haingo failed to
thrive. “I did not have money to buy something good for her, recalls
Viviaby. “She was getting more and more skinny. I was afraid, I was
always praying.” At seven months old Haingo weighed only 2.2kg (under 5
lbs).
On every side Viviaby encountered superstition and cruel comments –
until one day women who recently received free surgeries on the Mercy
Ship walked by their secluded village. They heard about Haingo. “There
is free treatment. You should bring your baby there!” they shared.
So for two days petite, courageous Viviaby carried her baby through
rugged countryside to find transport to the Mercy Ships patient
screening in her region.
The urgency of Haingo’s situation was accessed by screening coordinator Mirjam Plomp .
“Haingo was seven months old, looked like she was only two months. I
was surprised she was still alive. I realised we couldn’t do surgery
straight away. She would have to be in our Infant Feeding Program to
gain weight.” Haingo and her valiant mother accompanied the team
returning to the Africa Mercy on a Mission Aviation Fellowship flight.
Mother and daughter were rushed onboard the hospital ship, and
paediatric nurses began around-the-clock emergency nutrition. Shelby
Olufson was charge nurse when Haingo was admitted. “She was so small! If
you didn’t know her age you would think she was newborn.”
Viviaby slept well for the first time since Haingo’s birth. “They
were feeding her with an (oral feeding) syringe because she couldn’t
suck a bottle,” she explains. “Later they used a nursing bottle; they
used milk from my breast. A nurse was feeding in the morning, a
different one at lunch, and in the evening a different one. That’s how
they took care of her.”
Haingo began to gain weight and become responsive. Viviaby talked
with other mothers of cleft lip babies in the ward. She was comforted,
and she no longer felt alone. After 10 days Haingo was stabilised and
discharged to the Mercy Ships HOPE (Hospital Out Patients Extension)
Centre. Haingo’s weight was tracked, her development and care discussed
in the Infant Feeding Program (IFP). “I love seeing the transformation
as the infants gain weight, get stronger and reach developmental
milestones,” shares Jillian, one of the ship’s dietitians. She adds how
impacted she is when the parents of these fragile babies begin to gain
hope.
“Before, Haingo was crying a lot because she did not eat enough. But now she is happy! She has enough food!” exclaimed Viviaby.
As Haingo grew, she began to do all the heart-warming things that
babies her age are purposed to. She tracks movement with eyes that were
previously glazed, and waves ‘Veloma’ (goodbye) with the chubby arms
that had been so frail. After five months Haingo reached 3.5 kg
(7.7lbs), and the vital ‘average weight for height’ benchmark. At last
she was strong enough to undergo operations to repair her cleft lip and
part of her palate.
As Haingo came out of the first surgeries, Viviaby gathered her baby
in her arms. “She’s beautiful!” was all the overwhelmed mother could
say.
When Viviaby and Haingo briefly returned to their village, Haingo’s
four-year-old brother was distraught. “You exchanged my sister!” he
accused, “It’s not my sister!” The villagers too were amazed by the
extraordinary change in Haingo’s appearance. Viviaby explained the
remaining surgery would fix all of the baby’s problems.
At 13 months old Haingo received her finial free operation. Only now
her palate is closed can she eat and drink normally. Only now does she
have the ability to speak clearly. Only now can she purse her lips to
kiss her mother.
Viviaby reflects, “Nobody believed someone could help Haingo. Without
Mercy Ships, Haingo would have died. But my baby is healed!”
Haingo’s life was transformed by mercy.
No comments:
Post a Comment