Aissa update!

Hello everyone!

The little bird just recently underwent an additional surgery! In the nearby village of Pette, a visiting maxillofacial surgical team repaired a small defect, or hole just under Aissa's right eye. Below is the email message sent by Andy, a missionary at the Meskine hospital.

"Just to keep you updated. Aissa went back to Mouda today. Carsten(the surgeon at the Meskine hospital)is pleased with her progress. She can shut her eye now. There is still a small hole where tears are coming out but Carsten hopes that this will close in the next few weeks - if not Dr Lesley (the visiting maxillofacial surgeon) will be here until January and back again next summer.

Aissa was really happy while she was in Meskine. When she left she waved and said goodbye to lots of other patients and staff and so did Jean's wife. (Aissa's dad recently remarried) She seemed to have bonded really well with Jean's wife but was pleased to be going back to Mouda. Jean came to see her Sunday which really pleased her and he is excited to have both the girls back home for Christmas. Emmanuel the social worker is also pleased how well Jean is following up with Aissa and her sister and coming to get them and returning them to the orphanage.

Carsten will be seeing Aissa before she goes home for Christmas in a couple of weeks and he has left detailed instructions with the nurses at Mouda. The bandages have been off for a number of days so all Mouda need to do is keep it clean.

Thanks, Andy"

Big girl:)

Aissa and her new stepmama.

Going home!

Global Missions Health Conference

Each year Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky hosts the Global Missions Health Conference. One of the largest medical missions conferences in the nation, it exists to inform, train, and equip health care professionals and students to use their medical skills on both the international and domestic mission field.

This November I was invited to attend on behalf of MCWA. Along with our President Kenny Dunaway and the Director of Administration Cheryl Yennie, I spent the weekend talking with conference attendees about the Meskine hospital. It was amazing!

Below is a youtube photo slideshow of the event. I will also post pictures of our adventures on Flickr which can be accessed by clicking my photo link.

Thanks!



This church was HUGE! It looked like an airport:)

Posing in front of our booth. Kenny and Cheryl allowed me to decorate!

The ever-lovely Cheryl, the irrepressible KENNY and moi!

Aissa update

The little bird is doing so well! After moving to the Bethlehem Foundation orphanage this July, she quickly settled into her new home :) She started school in September and recently enjoyed a successful visit to her village over Christmas. Thank you for your prayers!

The little madam sporting a new butterfly t-shirt and her little sister, Aissatou.

Aissa update

Below is Andy's most recent email update on Aissa;

"Kari and I took Aissa and her sister to the Bethlehem Foundation today. As we walked up to her house in her village she ran to greet us. Both her sister and her seemed very happy to leave - Aissa had lost some more weight but was otherwise in good health. They were warmly greeted at Mouda and we left them without any tears, looking a little apprehensive but glad to be there. They will live at Mouda now, Jean will visit them there and then they will go back to the village during school holidays.

Andy"

Aissa update

Below is the email message I received from Andy, one of our MCWA missionaries after his visit to Aissa's village this afternoon. Emmanuel is the social worker from the Bethlehem Foundation where we hope to send Aissa to school.

"I went to Aissa's village today. Aissa is doing well, her ear infection has cleared up on its own and her face is healing really well but she is looking a lot thinner and her arm circumference measurement is down by 1 cm (now 16cm). After Yanga (the nurse) had done his checks she went and got a couple of games and sat there with him happily playing while Emanuel talked with Jean.

Emanuel was very good about finding out information and he could tell some things were not adding up. Then a family member came in. He revealed that Jean was in fact the true biological father of Aissa and her sister.

Yanga remembers some confusion when Aissa was first brought to the hospital and the doctors and nurses being forceful about who was the father and so maybe Jean got scared and decided being the Uncle was a safer bet. Anyway all is now in the open ..... Jean's wife left a few years ago and Jean has been bringing up the two ever since with the help of his mother. In the past he has been away at times in search of work leaving the two girls with his mother.

Emanuel still agrees that the Bethlehem Foundation is the best place for Aissa and her sister and Jean and the grandmother have both given their consent too. Jean actually worked at the Foundation a few years ago, helping with the harvest so he knows of the place. He is keen to accompany the 2 girls there when we take them and is on board with the holiday visits and keeping up the contact with them.

Emanuel thought it would be good for Aissa and her sister to go at the end of the month. August is traditionally a hard time with little food and access to the village can be harder so we settled on Friday 30th of July. I will go and collect Jean and the girls and take them to Mouda and then bring Jean back to the Mokolo Carrefour and put him on a clando for home. The girls will then start living at Mouda and return for visits to the village in the holidays.

It was really good to have Emanuel go with us, he has so much experience in these kinds of cases and now knows where Aissa's village is located so will be able to organize the future contact with the family.

All for now

Andy"

Update

Hello friends and family,

I received an email this week from Andy and Kari, fellow missionaries in Meskine. Apparently the nurse who was hired to visit Aissa's village found that her skin infection had cleared nicely and her arm circumference had remained stable. This means that she has not lost any more weight in the past two weeks.

This news is so encouraging, thank you for your prayers. Soon, Andy and Emmanuel will visit Aissa's village to see if the family is willing to send Aissa and her sister to school. I will update you as soon as I hear from the team.

Blessings, Sarah

Update

Hello friends and family.

I know you are all waiting to hear the final plan for Aissa’s future. Thank you for your patience. Our team is making this decision carefully, understanding the full impact it will have on her entire life. We are praying to know the will of God and are looking at this situation from all possible angles. It has not been easy, but this process is necessary.

After our meeting today we have stated as a team that we are ‘heading towards’ placing both Aissa and her sister at the Bethlehem Foundation for the school year. Many important questions are still left to be answered however, and Andy and I will make one more visit to the orphanage tomorrow.

In addition, the orphanage’s social worker will be invited to visit Aissa’s village in the coming weeks to ask the family if they are willing to send the girls away for their schooling. This meeting will be very important.

So please, please pray. Thank you.

Thank you CCBC!

Thank you Calvary Chapel of Battle Creek!

Your boxes arrived right on time and I was able to assemble and distribute your goodies to the pediatrics ward before leaving Cameroon!

Thanks to your generosity, each package consisted of crayons, color pages, candy, a toy, hair pretties and an additional item such as a toothbrush or stickers:-)

Aboubakar is 5 years old. Last year, he swallowed lye, an ingredient used for making soap. This chemical burned his esophagus (the pathway between the mouth and stomach) so badly that he can no longer swallow. The hospital has placed a tube directly into his stomach so that he can be fed. Missionaries on our team are currently mixing enriched porridge to be given him through this tube and surgery to open his esophagus is being investigated. Please pray.

She was all smiles...

...so was he:-)

This baby doll liked his stuffed monkey.

Demonstrating proper Pixie Stick technique...

The many precious stuffed animals you sent were delivered to a grateful vaccination team who will use them to entice the village mamas to bring their children in for regular immunizations! In addition, the beautifully knitted baby bonnets and receiving blankets are being kept in the maternity ward. Once a mother has completed all of her prenatal visits, and after delivery in the hospital, she will be given her gift.

Once again, thank you for your generosity and kindness. We are so blessed by your efforts. I look forward to seeing you soon!

Goodbyes

To bike or not to bike, that was the question…

I had recruited Kerri one of our missionaries who speaks fluent Fulfulde to help me say goodbye to my language tutors who live in the village. Now, how to get to her house? The roads were likely to be muddy from rain the night previous and I was way out of practice with this particular mode of transportation!

In the end I decided to be brave. I dusted off the community bike used here on the compound and walked it to the ‘repair shop’ just outside the hospital gate. The ‘shop’ consists of a few guys working on motorcycles under trees which give shade to the oil-stained sand around them, but they have the all-important tire pump, and that was just what I was after. Tires re-inflated I was ready to go, dodging puddles, lizards and chickens on my way to Kerri’s house.

The visits went well. After ducking into two compounds and seeing a total of four women, the conversation often ended in the same way;

“You’re leaving us so soon Sadatou, (that's me) are you tired of us?”

“No, I’m not tired of you at all, I will miss you, but I am ready to see my baaba (father) and daada (mother).”

“Will you come back?”

“I hope to come back to visit friends, but I am not sure if I will work at the hospital. I am still praying to know God’s will”

“You must come back! Do not forget us Sadatou and practice your Fulfude…”

The visits were lovely, the weather was beautiful and as I rode home, mothers greeted me and their children ran waving into the street. Kingfishers flashed from branch to branch in all of their turquoise splendor and the hills in the distance sported a sprinkling of green thanks to the recent rains. A cool breeze blew over the village and I wondered again why I would ever want to leave this place.

It is part of me now.

Will anyone understand this? Will they understand how certain sights and sounds suddenly bring me back to a village in Africa? Will they see how this experience has changed the very person that I am, how I think and react, how I live my life?

There is One who was with me the entire time. He is a constant which never changes, His is a presence that will never leave me, even after I return to my ‘other’ life. I remember this and am comforted. This is all a part of the missionary deal, this paradox of emotions. Soon I will be home to hug my baaba and daada and as difficult as it will be to leave, that will be so, so good.

Zoe!

I got a package in the mail today.

In that package was an envelope marked "for Sarah Root"...

And in that envelope was a lovely necklace made for me by one of my favorite cutie pies:-)

Thanks sweet Zoe, you made my day. I'll be home to hug you and your little blondie sisters soon...

The blondies, clockwise from Zoe in the pink is Cari, Sarah and Emma.

Bethlehem Foundation

This morning I took a trip to the "Bethlehem Foundation", a local Catholic orphanage. I spoke with Sister Rosa, the director of the facility as well as their social worker and one of the nurses who works on site.

I shared with them Aissa’s story, from her arrival at our hospital in May, 2009 to her reconstructive surgery in Togo. I showed them my photos of her miraculous recovery and asked if they might be willing to house Aissa and her sister for the school year. They readily agreed.

We discussed the particulars such as cost of room and board. The monthly amount of approximately 50$ includes not only food and housing, but all medical care, schooling fees, clothing and incidentals. The older children usually attend the village elementary school which is just around the corner from the orphanage, and has a student to teacher ratio of <40:1. The younger children attend kindergarten classes on site.

We will gather as a team next week to make a decision about where to place Aissa for the school year. Please pray that we would all be at peace and that God would give us his wisdom.

Thank you.



Front entrance to the center.

Chapel at the orphanage.

Medical offices on site used for evaluation of sick residents.

"Home of Joy" If she goes to the orphanage, this will be Aissa's home.



Kitchen.

Bathrooms:-)

Please pray

We visited Aissa today.

After driving over an hour on serpentine roads and crossing many dry riverbeds, the scenery began to look the same and I was thoroughly lost. Fortunately Andy who was driving had his bearings and we finally parked and walked to Aissa’s home. The area where she lives is quite pretty, the huts are all huddled together and constructed of smooth earth and stones, and the village is bordered on all sides by rocky hills.

We crested a large boulder and saw Jean. He went into a nearby hut and called the little bird who came running. She was more subdued that I expected. She immediately held up her arms and I picked her up off the ground, noting that she seemed lighter.

We were greeted and invited inside to sit down. Aissa immediately settled herself on my lap. We made small talk and I gave the bird the coloring pages and crayons I had saved for her. She was pleased and began on them right away.

Aissa’s face is healing well, the stitches have wiggled their way out from around the graft as expected and the small wound under her right eye is clean and almost closed. However, she has developed a bacterial skin infection due to poor hygiene, was struggling with a bad cold and had lost weight.

We trimmed her nails and measured her arm circumference as a way to monitor her growth. She has had chronic ear infections in the past, so I took a look today. I could not see much through the wax and was concerned she may develop another infection with her current cold.

We were given permission to take photos of the family compound and as I walked around with my camera, Aissa followed, arms outstretched. This clingy behavior usually means she is feeling a bit insecure and is not really sure of what is happening.

As I was leaving the compound, Aissa asked me for something to eat.

We gathered together and prayed over the little bird. She sat in my lap again and I held her close, asking God in his mercy to protect her, knowing this may be the last time I see her for years. As we left, we assured the family that one of our pediatric nurses would be back in two weeks to check on her and reiterated that if Aissa became ill, we had an agreement with their neighbor to drive them to the hospital on his motorcycle. Upon arriving, their transport would be paid and her care would be free.

Jean walked us out and on the way asked if we could give them food. He is a farmer, and because he was in the hospital during the last rainy season with Aissa, he was unable to plant his fields. No crop means no food and now, whatever stores the family may have had are completely gone.

They are hungry.

We told him we would discuss the problem and he was displeased. He stated that if he was not given food, he would have to leave Aissa ‘like her father did’ and go to Garoua. We perceived this to be a threat, as there is no way he could find the funds to make the trip. We left, agonizing over the tension encountered so often here in West Africa between desiring to meet basic human needs, yet not create dependence. We cannot fully trust Jean, while he has done extraordinary things for Aissa, this is not the first time he has made threats in order to get his own way and he is a known alcoholic. I prayed that God would give us wisdom as we made our way along the path.

Before reaching the car, we passed the local Lutheran church, a mud building with a tin roof. The pastor was sitting outside under a tree and as we walked up to greet them, his wife spread out a clean mat, gave us a fresh bowl of peanuts and invited us to sit.

We talked for a while and found that the church has bags of millet grain the staple food in this area, for sale. We paid Pastor Andre, and arranged for him to help Jean purchase a sack of grain within the next couple of days. God answered my prayer for wisdom and immediately provided for Aissa and her family. They will have food soon. The agreement is one bag a month for 3 months, until the harvest. If the bag runs out before the end of the month, in case they feel pressure to share with neighbors or to sell the grain for money to buy alcohol, we cannot purchase them another.

Pastor Andre then pointed out the local school and shook our hands before we piled into the car. At the school we met the director and took photos of the classrooms. We talked about cost and learned that the local student to teacher ratio is 50:1, which is not bad for this area.

I hope to visit the local Catholic orphanage this Friday where I will be asking about placing Aissa and her sister in their facility during the school year.

How can I summarize? The little bird is healing well after her operation, despite a minor respiratory and skin infection. She has lost weight because the family doesn’t have enough to eat, but God showed us the way to temporarily care for this need. We have a pediatric nurse visiting regularly for the coming few months and have secured transportation for her to get to the hospital if needed. School is in Aissa’s future, although we are still deciding as a team where to place the little bird and her sister this fall.

However, my heart’s cry is that Aissa be loved. We can put food in her stomach, treat her for malaria, enroll her in school but who will love her? Who will pick her up when she desires to be held? During our time on the ship, I saw how she blossomed under such love and affection, how she transformed into a radiant, joyful, exuberant child.

This was not the child I saw today.

We desperately need your prayers. I will keep you updated.

Village school

Carrying Aissa back to her home.





Aissa's sister.



Wanting to be held.

Finale

Aissa went home.

Saturday morning, one day after our arrival from Togo, Aissa came bounding into the compound, proudly wearing the new granny-apple green dress that had been made for this very occasion. She was excited to return to her village, and while the adults talked, she rode on the swing, asking to be pushed higher and higher still.

Jean was given instructions on Aissa’s mouth hygiene and how to care for her skin graft while it healed. We hope to visit soon to talk with the family about Aissa's future. She may be placed in a local orphanage during the school year where she will attend classes, have regular access to health care and continued discipline and structure.

Then we packed them into the truck for their return trip home.

Just one year previous, a miserable, skeletal, half-dead child was brought to the hospital. Just one year ago I sat on my living room floor begging God to save her life. Now exuberantly joyful, wonderfully affectionate, stubbornly courageous and chubbier than when we left for Togo, I can’t imagine life without her in it.

Praise God.

Saying goodbye.

Hambone...

New dress!

Home to Gargala.

Aissa and her sister!

Thank you

How can I thank you? What can I say that would express the love I have for all of you, my brothers and sisters? Your prayers were a tangible presence every step of the journey this past month. God honored them all. What a blessing you are to me.

Thank you for being my Aaron and my Hur, for holding my arms up when I didn’t have the strength to do it on my own. Together, we have brought the little bird home. Through you God has been glorified.

So here you go…the fruits of your prayers. Please continue to pray for sweet Aissa, she needs it now perhaps more than ever.

(*Warning, some of these photos are medically graphic, but they give a realistic picture of the amazing work done by the team of the Africa Mercy.)

Homecoming

Well the little bird made it home safely. Hallelujah.

After spending Thursday saying goodbye to precious friends, we loaded my duffel into the Land Rover and headed to the hospitality center to fetch the baby girl. Turns out, the chauffer who works at the center didn’t quite understand and drove Jean and Aissa to the airport alone while we were on our way to pick them up! Oops, they wouldn’t have made it very far…

So, the error was hastily rectified and we three made the journey to the airport together. A porter settled us and our luggage in the seating area and promised to come back once it was time to check in for our flight. He was wonderfully kind, a real answer to prayer.

However, sitting in the dark airport, surrounded by suffocating humidity and a cloud of mosquitoes, right in the center of a new and strange West African port city, I struggled. My heart began to race, I felt I couldn’t breathe, and I wondered if I would be able to get us home. The thought of having to make it through the next 24 hours was almost too much, and I wanted desperately to run away.

God was there. He saw my struggle.

I began to pray, took a few deep breaths and God gave me what I needed for the next step. So little by little we made our way home. I navigated airport check-in, customs and security with Jean and Aissa in tow. God gave me strength to handle corrupt porters, questionable policemen, crowds on the plane and 28 hours of sleeplessness. He blessed us along the way with kind people, like the man at the metal detector who told me to have “courage”, that he appreciated what had been done for Aissa, or the woman at the ticket counter, who overheard Aissa’s story and personally led me to the front of the line, or the flight attendant who remembered us from a month ago when we were on his flight to Togo. God was so faithful.

So we landed in the familiar brownness of sub-Saharan Africa, it’s beloved mud huts and scrub bushes a comforting sight to tired travelers as we stepped off the plane into the shimmering, dry waves of heat. Sweet Aissa was swaying on her feet from fatigue, and rode quietly to the village but flashed me a huge grin when I glanced back at her from the front seat of the car. I assume from this that she was happy to be home.

Upon pulling into the compound, Aissa was an instant celebrity. All of the staff ran up to greet her and exclaim how wonderful she looked. They received us with such love and warmth, it was good to see them all. There will be more to come, I’m sure.

So, after resting, unpacking my suitcases, and chasing the welcoming committee of two cockroaches, one lizard and an enormous spider out of my house, tomorrow begins anew. We are still praying to know God’s will for Aissa, and it looks at this time as if she will be returning to her village. Please continue to pray with us over her future and continued physical healing.

Thank you.

Goodbye

The little bird was scheduled for her last post-op appointment this Monday. So, Monday morning I made my way to the hospital to find out when she would arrive. I bumped into a nurse who informed me that Aissa was in fact standing outside the ship, on the dock that very moment, throwing a fit.

Oh boy.

So I hurried to the dock and sure enough the little madam was so upset that she couldn’t board and play with all her old friends on A ward that she stood howling in desolation while the crowd looked on. She quieted soon enough when I walked up and hugged her, but was none too happy to wait outdoors under the tent for the next 2 hours while waiting for her turn in the post-op clinic. We plied her with crayons, color pages and songs until finally they called her name.

So we tiptoed up the gangway, Aissa staring at the water under our feet the entire time, and once in the air-conditioned ship, she was a girl transformed. She smiled, she flirted, we sat in the hallway outside the clinic where she beat me soundly at a game of Memory and every time one of her beloved nurses came to say hello, she threw herself at them, wrapping herself around their waist.

She visited A ward once more. As soon as she walked in, the room erupted in a chorus of “Aissa!” at which point she threw her hands out into the air as if to say, “taadaa!” Truly in her element, she was more than happy to comply during her post-op appointment. The paperwork finished, it was time to take the ‘after’ photos and she rounded up all her friends to sit in the picture with her.

As Aissa left the ship, perhaps for the last time, she waved goodbye to the men and women of the Africa Mercy who have loved her so well this past month. She has been the topic of their blog posts and emails home, their conversations and prayers. They visit her at the hospitality center and rejoice over her recovery. Finally, they have wished us safe travels for our return to Cameroon.

Our little bird has made quite an impression.

She is one of God’s love stories.

Mama

I’ve been thinking of my mama this week.

This portion of Mercy Ships outreach to Togo has been focused on maxillofacial and plastic surgery. Since Monday, I have been working in the admissions tent, welcoming those patients who are scheduled to receive an operation. Each morning they arrive with their physical and emotional scars, the grown woman who lost her lips to childhood NOMA, the teenage boy whose jaw, mouth and nose were ripped off by a bullet, the skeletal infant unable to suckle because of her cleft palate.

Some of the kids sashay into the tent without a care in the world, grinning wildly around their split lips and noses as we hand them stuffed animals or a balloon. Others, usually the adults are more timid, speaking in hushed tones, most with towels or rags held up as a shield to hide their deformity.

I have learned during my time here that children with cleft lips are often believed to be cursed. In some countries, the parents are urged to bury the child alive to be rid of the spirits that made them ill.

May 27th, 1948 Janice Lynn Pettengill came into the world. She was born with a cleft lip and palate and, I can imagine, beautiful blue eyes. Not yet one month old, she received her first surgery to close the opening in her lip. With great care and dedication, her mama fought for her, trying new tricks to get her to suckle, eat and gain weight. She succeeded and at ten months old, Janice had her second operation to close the hole in the roof of her mouth.

Later in life, her tonsils and adenoids were removed to help relieve the chronic ear infections that threaten the hearing of so many cleft lip and palate children. As a result, she was required to undergo intensive inpatient speech therapy, separated from her family for months. During her time in the hospital, she felt fortunate to be so well while surrounded by truly ill children and played piano for the other patients. Her mama visited her faithfully.

Janice had to brave the gauntlet of childhood and adolescence with facial scars. However in high school, others were drawn to her tender heart and evident beauty and she became a woman known for her ability to love.

At the age of 30, on February 15th, 1979 Janice gave birth to me, Sarah Lynn Root.

The first thing she wrote about in my baby book was my ‘perfect’ nose.

I don’t know why my mama was spared the ridicule of a village, the threats of the local witchdoctor, the murmured rumors of the secret fears of curses and evil spirits. I don’t know why being born on our side of the Atlantic ensured her access to care so early, the attention of specialists, or the ability to live a ‘normal’ life. Her road to healing has not been without difficult days, but I am so grateful for the hurt that she has been spared.

And since I know that every good and perfect gift comes down from the Father of heavenly lights, I will praise Him for taking care of my precious mama. He saved the life of the little baby girl with the open lip and the blue eyes, the one he knew from her mother’s womb. Hallelujah.

The big move!

Bed 6 of A ward is now empty.

This Saturday, Aissa’s medical team decided to release her to the hospitality center, a transitional unit in town for post operative patients. So after one full month on the Africa Mercy she slipped into her best dress and plastic bead necklace and we packed her bags.

She was a bit insecure, running to me and hugging my waist, lingering there for a moment, her backpack slung over her shoulders. However, once it came time for us to make our exit, she marched to the door. Everyone in the ward, patients and caregivers alike chorused “bye bye!” as she waved and nurses came out of doorways and stopped in the halls to see her off.

We piled into the Land Rover that would take us to our destination and she watched with wide eyes as the city moved past her window. Upon pulling in the compound, we entered the main building. While waiting to receive their room assignment, I asked Aissa if she wanted to play outside.

“Outside?” she replied, hope lighting her face. For the past month her outside playtime has been restricted to 1-2 hours daily on deck 7 of the ship, so the thought of having unrestricted access to play ‘outside’ was a very exciting prospect indeed. She tentatively went out and returned with a red balloon and a new friend.

We then found her room and carefully pasted all of her arts and crafts pages to the walls around her bed. After a tour of the bathrooms, showers and drinking fountains, we were greeted by another of the patients who had stayed with her on the ship.

Ever attentive, Aissa then asked me where was my room? I explained that I was staying at the ‘other hospital’ and that I would come to visit often. Her bottom lip immediately flew out as she expressed her displeasure. She promptly replied “ mi yidaa”, “I don’t like that.”

I decided the best course of action was to ignore the comment and hope it didn’t come up again. I left her playing and slipped away to return to the ship. The following day I was told that Aissa hadn’t shed a tear at my departure, and that she was relishing her playtime outside, coloring in the shade with another little girl.

Aissa has an appointment with the ENT specialist to examine her ears on Saturday and one final post-operative visit to the ship on Monday. Everyone is so pleased at how her graft healed. The small wound under her eye is being cleaned daily and Lord willing we should be ready to return to Meskine next week.

Everything is going so well, thank you for your prayers. Yesterday was more than just Aissa’s release from the hospital. For the first time in over a year, she didn’t have to wear a bandage on her face.

Hallelujah.

Update

Last week, during the little bird’s dressing change the ophthalmologist/eye surgeon came to examine the remaining small opening in her skin graft, just under her eye. He believes that rather than try to close this area with a stitch, it should be left to close on its own, thereby decreasing the scar tissue formation and the pull on the lower eyelid.

In addition, he thinks that her cornea is out of danger. While her eye still does not fully close, the lid does cover the cornea and he states that the small cloudy spot currently present is old, and not actively threatening her vision.

This week I will attempt to speak with Aissa’s medical team to decide when we might return to Cameroon. We may need to make arrangements to continue wound care after arriving home, please pray that we have God’s wisdom.

Suzanne

My heart is breaking for Suzanne.

Suzanne was admitted to our hospital approximately one year ago with a mysterious skin disease. The medications in our limited arsenal did nothing as the lesions ravaged her body. Within a period of months, her arms and legs were covered with stubborn open ulcers that refused to heal and her face erupted with thickened patches of blackened crusts.

She has been forced to use a wheelchair because the ulcers cause her so much pain that she can no longer walk. Wrapping herself in a scrap of mosquito netting to keep the flies from her face, she can occasionally escape her hospital room and go outside.

She has been away from her young children for this entire time. They visit her at the hospital but howl when the time comes to return home and leave their mama.

We have conducted two separate biopsies which have stumped the pathologists in the U.S., the results are always returned inconclusive. Finally, were put in contact with a talented dermatologist Dr. Dan Wikland who has worked in Cameroon. After contemplating Suzanne's symptoms and looking at her photos, she was diagnosed with chromoblastomycosis, a fungal infection.

We attempted treatment with the only antifungal medication available to us. It failed, so we searched for another more potent alternative. It was not to be found in Cameroon.

Finally the Dr. Dan found and purchased the medication online and shipped it to our hospital. Suzanne is one month into her treatment. Progress is slow, it can take 3-6 months to see any change, and there is a high likelihood of relapse after the treatment is finished.

And just today, I found that her husband is divorcing her, his marriage to another woman already in the works.

So while my body is in Togo on a ship overlooking the ocean, my heart is in sub-Saharan Cameroon, in box 6 of pavilion 3 with Suzanne as she fights. She wavers between stunning optimism and overwhelming despair and I am praying for her today.

Please pray with me.