| September
2015 report |
| Dominic,
17 years old, was taken to Acheru on 26th May this year with
severe ulcers on both legs, and evidence of malnutrition. He was
admitted, then taken to CoRSU for three days of treatment before
being brought back to Acheru for continuing dressings,
medication and a special diet. |
| Our social
worker writes: The problem started two and a half years
back and he was given medication. The wounds healed and re
occurred, and they had given up through lack of money. The
mother of another child who had been treated at Acheru advised
them to come to us. |
| Dominic
reports: “The problem started as a small blister,
but the swelling progressed and turned into a wound. We were
directed to local herbs, but it just got worse. The pain was so
bad I stopped going to school. We went to different hospitals
for treatment and the wounds would start healing for a short
time but then recur. My parents sold off most of the things they
had, but we had to give up going to hospitals because we lacked
money. The wounds smelled and this hindered me from associating
with other people. I used to cover the wounds with pieces of
rags to keep flies off.” |
| Dominic says he
had lost hope, but it was God’s grace which helped him. He
started going to a local church and that was the only place he
found peace, people in the church were so welcoming and this
made him realise that it’s only God who can understand his
situation and heal him from the pain he was going through. It
was during this time when he was directed to Acheru by the
mother of an Acheru patient from the same village. |
| Dominic has now
made a full recovery. |
|
| Musa, a
9 year old boy, was seen at Acherhu on 27.1.2015 with chronic
osteomyelitis affecting his right arm and left leg. He was
referred for an orthopaedic consulation on 5th February, but
wasn’t brought back, so he had to be followed up by our
Community Based Rehabilitation team. He was eventually brought
back on 9th July and, following X rays, was booked for surgery
at CoRSU on 24th July. |
| The problem had
started some time ago, and because they hadn’t sought
proper treatment the elbow and ankle joints had fused. |
| His father
says: “It started as a small swelling but we didn’t
pay attention as there was no pain. Then he started crying in
pain and the swelling covered his whole leg. We did not seek
medical intervention because the community were saying he was
bewitched.” |
| The allegation
behind this is that if a bewitched person is injected they will
die so to avoid this, instead of consulting hospitals they went
to traditional healers who performed rituals and told them weird
and scary things, as told by his father: “We went to
many witch doctors and they were all saying different things;
what they had in common was that they said the boy was
bewitched. They made us do and believe awful things like
entering shrines at night with no lights when we found devils
talking in different voices. We had to give sacrifices of
chickens and goats, and the boy had to drink blood and smoke
herbs. We were told if we didn’t do this our son would die
and the same problem would pass on to the whole family. We gave
everything that was asked and did everything as instructed but
it only got worse. We regret very much the severe pain he has
gone through and the money we wasted.” |
This is another
typical Acheru story of a child who can now smile again.
|
| Some
figures for August: |
Inpatients
were treated for the following conditions:
Osteomyelitis 12
Club foot 1
Plastic (burns contractures etc) 5
Neurological 1
Post injection paralysis 1
Cerebral Palsy 2
Other orthopaedic 19
|
Outpatient
treatments included:
Osteomyelitis 10
Club foot 14
Plastic 7
Neurological 3
Cerebral Palsy 9
Post injection paralysis 5
Other orthopaedic 51 |
