Thank you to CoRSU hospital in Kampala for providing these stories of patients that have been helped by Interface Uganda.
Here is one of the stories:
How an intervention by Interface restored hope to a 13-year-old boy
David’s nightmare started when he turned five years. He developed an itch on the face; the area between the nose and mouth. The swelling and pain was immense for the young boy. David’s mother Oliver, sought intervention of herbalists but the body tissue between the nose and mouth, produced a foul smell. The skin around the affected area started falling off leaving the teeth exposed. David was at the wrath of his peers.
David was 13-years-old when he visited CoRSU. Although this is an active age for a male child – David was meant to be exploring his capabilities in sport and other things. He was limited. First, he could not associate freely with his peers as they often chased him away due to the foul smell that stems from his mouth and nasal area. Peers mock and nicknamed him as ‘ugly’ and he often eavesdropped on adults backbiting him. He stopped reporting the tormentors to his mother Oliver, as such reports brought her more misery.
Within her means, his mother tried visiting the referral hospital in the neighbourhood, but all in vain. When surgery camps happened in the nearby villages or districts, Oliver took along her son but none seemed to give her the answers she was yearning for. “They always told me that David’s condition was complicated,” Oliver says. To make the situation harder for Oliver, she received reports from one of the doctors at a camp, that David’s condition could only be handled outside Uganda where highly specialized treatment is given to patients.
Oliver gave up hope and David was to learn how to cope with the disability.
Mistaken for a cleft patient, David finally gets hope
Once a community mobiliser visited David’s home as he searched for cleft patients to refer to CoRSU for treatment. David was mistaken for a cleft lip and palate patient. At CoRSU children born with cleft undergo fully subsidized surgeries and rehabilitation. Parents / carers make a contribution towards treatment of children with other medical conditions.
When David came to CoRSU, he was diagnosed with complex orofacial disability characterized by an absent jaw bone on the right, nasal bone and cartilage in the nose, absent medial orbital floor, no soft tissue coverage of the Right nose, absent floor of the mouth. It needed a specialist in surgery of the face, mouth, and jaws. And at CoRSU, the Plastic and Reconstructive department is well equipped to handle such specialties.
Oliver was supposed to make a contribution towards David’s hospital stay and consumable but she had no money. Back at home, Oliver is only a peasant farmer and single parent raising David single handedly. How would she have raised the amount? You may ask. Interface program at CoRSU came in handy to help Oliver cover the contribution for the hospital stay and consumables. David had his surgery done and the open area between the nose and mouth was no more.
“Thank you Interface Uganda for your generous supports towards my son’s rehabilitation. Continue supporting people with disability. God will grant you all that you desire both on Earth and in heaven,” says Oliver.
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