August 2
On Thursday we did a clinic at the village of Balambar. We
had a good day and saw over 100 kids. I was just starting to pack up my things
when a woman came and tapped me on the shoulder. She motioned for me to follow
her outside. We walked outside of the church to a tree where a few mothers and
their children were sitting in the shade. She turned and pointed in a different
direction towards a field of cotton. In the dirt on the edge of the field sat a
little boy who was crying. As I approached him I noticed the flies covering his
head and other parts of his body. The smell was horrible. I knelt down to
examine the child and discovered over half of his head was covered in puss from
an infection and some of it had caked on. The same infection was on his lower
back and certain areas on his legs and feet. I picked up the precious little
boy and walked to the women under the tree. I asked, “who is this boy’s
mother?” They laughed nervously back at me. I had forgotten about the language
barrier so I switched to french and asked three more times. No one would answer
me. They just shook their heads and said something like “elle partie,” she has
gone. A translator from our team came over to help and found out that his
mother had abandoned him and left for the city. His father was at home but does
not care for him.
I asked the woman who had shown me the child if she would
please accompany him so that he could go through the clinic since we require an
adult to be present. She agreed and we returned to the one room church building
that was serving as our screening for children, malnutrition treatment, malaria
testing and treatment, and dental office with each area separted by wooden
benches. I set the boy down on a bench and went to find Dr. Bev to ask how to
go about helping this boy. He sat there and cried and cried. He laid his head
down on the bench because sitting up was too much of an effort for him.
Dr. Bev instructed Kayla and I on how to clean up the
infection and we were told to give him both a malaria and HIV test. We began
gathering what we needed. I created an intake sheet for the boy because we were
all out of the registration cards because we were not planning on seeing more
kids. The uncle of the child appeared at this time and claimed that he was
taking care of the boy. I was happy to see at least a relative but I had to
calm my anger at the fact that letting a child become as sick as this little
boy could be considered “taking care”. The uncle gave us some information for
the registration card. The beautiful
little boy is named Tehankounibe. I give his name in hopes that you will
remember to pray for him. We were shocked to discover Tehankounibe is 6 yrs
old. The entire time I had been speaking to him as if he were a 3yr old because
his body was so small and malnourished he looked too young to be over 3. But
when we looked at his teeth they revealed he was indeed 6. I asked my
translator to prep the medicine for the severe malnutrition treatment.
Then I sat down and began the tedious task of picking off
all of the scabbed over and harderned drainage from his infection that covered
over half his head. For a half hour I worked at it one small piece of a time.
The pastor from the Williston team and my translator held the lights for me as
it was late afternoon and the sun was just beginning to retire. Kayla began to
bathe the child from head to foot in a disinfecting solution. We had to take of
his clothes to clean him up and I noticed his shirt was covered in flies lying
on the floor. We would not be putting that shirt back on him. The sponge bath
Kayla gave Tehankounibe caused his open sores to sting and several of the spots
on his head began to bleed and his scalp appeared raw as I continued to clean
the sores.
Tehankounibe cried. He was hurting in so many ways. Not once
did his uncle come over to comfort him or even say a word of encouragement.
There was no one there for this child. As I cleaned I would stop and tell him
“gafarda”, I’m sorry, and comfort him as much as I could.
As tears streamed down Tehankounibe he would look back at me
with a face I will never forget and cry out, “Mama” over and over and over and
over again. But his mother was not
there. She left him.
I looked back at him and willed myself not to cry. Several
times I stopped cleaning his head because I couldn’t see from the tears filling
my eyes.
A short time later Dr. Bev joined us and finished bandaging
Tehankounibe up. She cut a hole in a large medical towel and made him something
like a shirt/robe to wear because the child had nothing else. We got the test
results back. Malaria was positive but I praised the Lord he was negative for
HIV. I adminstered med after med until we had given him everything we could.
Then Dr. Bev gave him a different form of medicince he needed just as much. She
picked him up and held that little boy. He clung to her still crying for “mama”
but calmed down quickly and finally found some peace in his shattered world.
I longed to hold Tehankounibe too. I longed to do anything
to take away his pain. If it were a possibility I would not think twice about
bringing him home with me.
When we were finished and had to return home we handed
Tehankounibe to the woman who had showed him to me. I thanked her so much for
bringing me to him and told her I would be praying for him. He was sleeping by
the time they walked out the door. I felt like crying out for her to bring him
back as they left. It was so hard to let him go.
Tehankounibe majorly touched the heart of pastor Paul who
was holding the light for us and Dr. Bev as well. Before we left we made sure
that the pastor of Balambar would take care of him and our team provided him
with food to give to Tehankounibe so at least he will not be hungry. I can’t speak for them but I’m sure they felt
the same as I did in wishing we could have done more.
Meeting Tehankounibe was the most moving and impactful
experience I had my entire time in Africa. After seeing so much during my
previous 10 weeks I thought I had figured out how I felt about life here. But
God used an encounter on my last day on the continent to shake me up so much
that I feel like I am back at square one. No matter how much I try to process
Tehankounibe’s situation it will never make sense to me. I will never be able
to understand why his mother left and why someone would not love such a
beautiful precious child.
Tehankounibe’s face has kept me up at night and the sound of
his cry seems to fill the room while I try to sleep. I cannot explain it but my
life is different after meeting him. Tehankounibe and other encounters in
Africa have changed me. Everything I see and hear now first goes through a
filter I didn’t have before coming here. I don’t see anything the same anymore.
I am no longer innocent of spiritual and physical poverty and it as real as the
chair I’m sitting on. I have a new knowledge that requires taking action. I
will spend the rest of my life seeking God and discovering what my role is in
alleviating some of the brokeness. Everything changes now. The faces of the
people I met in Africa, like 5 yr old HIV positive Michael, will motivate
everything I do from this point on. Sick kids like Tehankounibe will be my
drive in medical school. They will be a part of every decision I make. I will
never forget.
