Reflection: Tamba

Tamba: a Land-to-Ship Partnership Story

by Lu Mizen with Morgen Kleinknecht, originally posted December 2006

Kono, Sierra Leone: “Throw the child away, it’s not worth keeping! How will you ever afford medical care or even begin to look after it?”

Huddled together in the small hut, the mood grows darker and more foreboding as harsh words pass back and forth. Family members peer down at the newborn baby; all are intent on expressing a view. Finela tries to cover her ears as each word pierces her heart. Gazing at her husband, Ishaka, their eyes begin to fill with tears. Their hearts overflow with compassion. This is their newborn baby boy, Tamba.

The 8cm tumor protruding from the forehead is gruesome. Little Tamba is a sight to behold, yet he is still a gift from God.

After a month of living under the constant words of condemnation from family and friends, Ishaka and Finela decide to go. Leaving their four older children with relatives, they travel with Tamba from their village to Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown.

“My heart was so heavy,” Ishaka remembers. “I had some savings, yet I had no idea if Tamba could be helped. All I knew was that we couldn’t give up on him.”

But arriving in the city, hope was difficult to find. Various hospitals offered a range of advice, while charging exorbitant fees for counsel and medicine that did nothing. Ishaka was growing desperate. His only desire was to help Tamba, but he was frustrated at every turn and now he was running out of money.

“Looking back, I just feel sick,” Ishaka explains, “Over a month I spent more than $300 on hopes that were never fulfilled. These are all my savings. I was even charged for a surgery that Tamba never received.”

Then Ishaka heard of a Mercy Ships clinic in Freetown. He went there and met Sandra Lako, a doctor at the children’s outpatient clinic of the Aberdeen West African Fistula Centre.

“The timing was perfect,” Ishaka smiles, “I could afford nothing more. I was desperate and exhausted. Sandra believed in us and was a gift from God. Praise Him!”

After diagnosing the mass as a congenital tumor, Sandra explained that the surgery could not be done at the outpatient clinic. But it could be possible onboard the Mercy Ship in Liberia. She told Ishaka that the hospital ship has the skilled surgeons and the CT scanner necessary to help Tamba.

“And the most incredible news of all…” laughs Ishaka, “Sandra explained that Mercy Ships is free. Never in our life had we heard of free medical care. This was a miracle. Then another miracle happened. I had no funds left, but Sandra blessed us so greatly. Through her provisions we were able to financially afford to reach the ship.”

Sandra admits, “It did feel a little strange handing over a large amount of money to someone I had only seen three times. I made it very clear that they need to use this money for transport, and if they choose to use if for something else, I will not be able to give them any more money. My prayer for them was ‘Lord, keep Tamba and his parents safe in their travels. Give the surgeons on the ship wisdom! Lead, protect, guide.’”

Tamba and his parents reached the ship safely at the end of September. A CT scan confirmed that the tumor was operable, and a successful surgery took place later in October. Ishaka phoned Sandra periodically to keep her updated on Tamba's progress.

From his son’s bedside on the ship, Ishaka tries to put his gratitude into words, “I just cannot say thank you enough. Financially I have lost everything, but my son has life. I am just amazed that people have believed in me and wanted to help me. From Sierra Leone to Liberia, I have met people who really love and really care. Now I truly know that there is a God who cares for me and my family.”

To be continued soon...

Life is busy, as always. Different busy though. Not busy with lines of moms waiting outside the gate. And a full waiting room of children. Or the craziness of life in Africa. But with visiting friends/family. And being in transition. This blog will be continued. Hopefully soon. Just need to get things moving again. And get a computer! Stay tuned.

Leaving Sierra Leone...

Need I say more? I think this is when it really hit me that I was leaving my position in the clinic for good. And that I was saying bye to a place that had become home. A moment of sadness followed by a moment of hope. Hope in the fact that God has more in store for me. Knowing that every take off is followed by a landing. I won't be flying aimlessly about. I will land. And I will land well. I will sink my feet into new ground...

Bye bye...

Last beach trip. Bye bye Salone.

Many things I'll miss - like the beaches.

Many things I won't - like the dogs.

I'll be back.

And there will be more Salone blogging to come...

Goodies from town...

Today I went to hectic Sani Abacha street and bought 90 packets of cheeseballs, 80 small packets of biscuits, 72 juice boxes and 2 big bags of sweets. Tomorrow I am having a small party for some of my dearest patients and I figured I should stock up for my last time with the Sunday School kids this weekend at the same time. The picture below is of the street. Yes, those are people taking up the entire street. Basically you drive through honking your horn and the people clear away. You just have to mind your side mirrors when passing other vehicles. Fortunately we found two shops that sell bulk goodies. And I now know where most of the street vendors buy their goods. Buy the goods at bulk price and sell them on the street for more. Good business you would think, except that everyone is selling the same stuff!

From 2 to 0...

No clinic for me today, I left my colleague to it.
I did go outside the gate to help sort out the patients.
And helped with the first one who was pretty anemic.
But other than that, no patients for me; how bizarre.
Fortunately I did not do admin all day either!
Although maybe I should have - so much to do still.
Instead I went out to Emergency Surgical Centre.
That is the hospital I've visited many times since 2005.
It is actually the NGO hospital I modelled 'my' outpatient clinic after.
And it is the hospital I most frequently refer the children to.
I have many fond memories there.
I think I spent every Friday there, working with the doctors, the first 6 months I was here.
The national doctors there helped me understand (to some extent) some of the cultural practices.
They helped me get the hang of treating some of the tropical diseases.
They were/are great!
Today however, I headed out to say goodbye.
It was fun to see people, hang out in medical OPD, visit the ward.
And I finally was able to see their supplementary feeding program up and running.
The program is every Thursday, but seeing as I usually have clinic, I've never seen it.
It was kind of fun to be able to do something different on a Thursday!
I then sat down and chatted with their medical coordinator for a bit.
It's always great to be able to share experiences and frustrations.
And be a part of the bigger NGO world.
It really is a unique experience and I find you quickly bond with others doing similar work.
Strange thought to not go back there again anytime soon.
After Emergency I made a quick trip into town to run some errands.
And then it was back to admin!!!

2 patients only...

What? I only saw 2 patients today? On a clinic day? What's going on?

Well, I had decided before coming down to the office, that I should really use today to get administrative work done. I knew if I sat in my office I would be distracted and tempted to see kids anyway so thought I should sit in the admin office. However, when I got to work and went out to see the line it made my decision harder. There were just too many children for 1 doctor out there. So it meant that either I had to see patients today and leave the admin, or do the admin and leave the children. Tough call. And I almost feel a little bad to tell you that I chose to stick with my original plan; admin. I have to stop seeing the kids at some point (although I will see some on Thursday and Tuesday) and REALLY have loads of admin to get done. After getting over my guilt during the first hour, I actually managed to get a lot done today. There's still a ways to go, but I'm plowing forward. It's not until you have to write down what you do everyday, that you realize how much it is you really do, and how natural it has all become!

In the end I did see 2 patients today- my two reviews from yesterday. Both were moderately ill yesterday with malaria and so I wanted to follow-up on them. Thankfully they were both doing better today. One is still fairly anemic and the other has some malnutrition but they are on the mend. At least I still got a few patients in today...

55/72...

Crazy Monday came and went.
As I arrived at the office I already heard it was noisy outside.
I went to the gate and told the moms to line up.
Which for some reason seems like a really difficult task for them.
I suppose everyone wants to make sure their child gets a ticket.
But really, all that yelling, screaming and pushing, is it really necessary?
Once again I had to threaten a little bit.
"If there is no single line in 5 minutes, there will be no clinic today."
It always works.
I go inside, and within 5 minutes the guard finds me to tell me they've lined up.
Perfect.
Unfortunately my next dilemma was the fact that there were 72 kids at the gate.
Oh bother.
Seeing as I was to spend a lot of the day training up a new doctor, we decided on 50.
50 children would be seen, and 22 sent away.
Sorry-o.
What can I say?
Still one of the worst parts of the job.
But, we did see the 50 kids and gave them the best treatment possible.
We actually saw 55, as there were some reviews as well.
All around a good day, despite the chaotic start.
And Praise God that I was able to do some clinical work with our new national doctor!!