Happy New Year from Benin

This update was sent as an email to anyone on my support list so I thought I'd also place it here in case any of you my readers are not on the list (PS-If you'd like to receive email updates, please let me know in the comments!). Some of this will be repetitive if you've been reading my blog the past few months but there's a few new statistics and pictures! Without further ado...

Greetings from Benin!

I hope and pray that this email finds you and your family well, and that this holiday season was one full of joy and blessings! As we approach the coming of 2017 and near the halfway point of this field service in Benin, it seemed like a good time to send a quick update of things here on the Africa Mercy.

After an exciting 10 months in Madagascar and a quick break in the US, I headed to South Africa to meet the ship in Durban where it was docked between field services for maintenance. I was excited to get back to the ship to see my ship friends (who have become like family) and finally get to SAIL! As crazy as it sounds, up until that time, I’d never been on the ship while it was moving. Sailing is a different experience but I loved it! It took a day or two to get my “sea legs” as we hit some rough seas along the way. Things settled down once we made it around South Africa and headed up the Western coast and we were able to enjoy calm seas, beautiful sunsets and a few wildlife sightings. 

Sunset over the Atlantic Ocean

The gangway (our staircase) being lifted onto the ship. The very last step before we leave the port in Durban, South Africa

Two weeks of sailing later, we arrived in Benin – and a celebration was waiting for us! Our advance team (a group of crew who go ahead of the ship to organize things with our host country) and a team of dancers and musicians greeted the ship as we entered the port. Later that day, a group of dignitaries and partners held an Arrival Ceremony to officially welcome us to Benin. Again, this was another first for me since, in Madagascar, I flew to the country and joined the ship after it arrived. It was really fun to be a part of this long awaited arrival and feel the excitement of the Beninoise people for us to be serving their country.

Emmanuel, a crew member from Benin, carries the flag of Benin to begin the procession to the arrival ceremony.

Then it was time for the work to begin. On the ship, we worked hard getting everything cleaned and set up in the hospital so it would be ready for patients. About 60 new nurses arrived the week before the hospital opened and we spent a few days getting them ready to work. It was fun to be on the receiving end of these new crew and think back to 1 year ago when I was in their shoes!

Everything in the hospital has to be cleaned TWICE by hand. No Madagascar germs allowed to in Benin!

An exhausted but happy cleaning team

Off the ship, another team was holding mass screenings in the local city to find our first group of patients. This is a huge job that requires the teamwork of many volunteers from the ship. Several thousand people showed up every day and had to be filtered through to find potential patients that have the types of conditions we can treat. The Screening team worked extremely hard, sometimes putting in 12-14 hour days, but successfully filled about 50% of our surgery spots in 3 weeks! The rest of the spots were filled by patients selected during upcountry screenings over the next few months.

Endless lines of colorful West African fabric

Long days of screening to find the right patients for surgery. This was one of our future Ortho patients!

Finally, on September 11, the hospital welcomed our first patients for surgery. It’s always an exciting time when the empty hospital starts filling with patients and caregivers, nurses and day crew, doctors and surgeons. As wonderful as it is to have everything clean and tidy, these people are the reason we are here and the reason we do what we do. Without them, our mission would be useless; they show me over and over again what real trust and hope look like each time a new patient steps foot on this ship.

Nurses and day crew excited to open the hospital to the very first patients of Benin!

In the first 4 months of our time in Benin, 550 surgeries have been performed! As a ward nurse, I work primarily in Plastics/Reconstructive Surgery and Orthopedic Surgery. I would consider plastics my original home since I started there from the beginning and have worked in that area the most. 92 plastic surgeries were done in September and October. It’s a busy time and the patients often stay anywhere from 3-8 weeks post-surgery to allow time for their wounds to heal so we become very close with them in that period.

Krystal and Memuna enjoy a special moment on Deck 7

One of our plastics patients named Carole

In November, Orthopedic surgery started – and this is my true love. I had the privilege of being the Team Leader for Orthopedics in the ward this year (which is basically like coordinator of all things Ortho not inside the operating room). It was challenging to be in a new role but I enjoyed sharing my passion with many new nurses and getting to work with a great team of surgeons and physical therapists. There’s just something about those little crooked legs, tiny casts and miniature plastic walkers that makes me smile. Orthopedics on the ship is limited to children - which is another reason I love it so much, although the ward can be quite a noisy place at times (I nicknamed it the Zoo!!). 

Our very first patient, Maurinho was such a champ! We know how to have fun in Ortho :)

Nurse Amy shows a patient how it's done!

  

In other areas of the hospital, 162 general and 202 Maxillo-Facial surgeries were also completed. I don’t have as much involvement in these areas but they occasionally overlap with my ward. General surgery is usually for minor issues like hernias, small tumors and enlarged thyroids. These conditions may not be dangerous but they are definitely life altering and a small procedure can make a huge difference to the quality of life for these patients and their families. Max-Facs involves anything on the head and neck. This ranges from simple cleft lips to massive jaw tumors and growths from nerves and blood vessels. Many of these conditions are life threatening and the patients would eventually die from suffocation or starvation without surgery. 

A few Goiter patients during screening.

Nurse Cara with a cleft lip patient before surgery.

Outside of our hospital, classes and training for local medical providers are always happening. We call this area Medical Capacity Building. Ponseti clubfoot clinic, nurse training, surgeon mentoring, SAFE anesthesia, trauma care and Helping Babies Breathe courses are just a few of the many areas covered under this program. Over 700 Beninoise people have been impacted by these trainings so far and they will take that learning back to their homes and workplaces to hopefully improve the medical care provided in this country for years after the ship leaves.

WHO checklist project sends a team all over Benin to train surgical teams in this lifesaving method.

Local midwives and nurses learn to resuscitate babies in the Helping Babies Breathe course.

But all of these things would be impossible without people like you praying and supporting this ministry! God is working in this country and through this ship each and every day – He is also working through YOU to bring hope and healing to the people of Benin. The part you play - no matter how small you think it is - makes the impossible possible! Thank you for your continued support and encouragement for the past year and a half. And know that YOU really make a difference in this place and for each person impacted through Mercy Ships!

Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!

Jenny

Hospital Team Benin 2016

The Great Patient Search

I realized recently that I don't remember ever writing about how we find our patients. This process is called "Screening". It's a pretty interesting process that highlights the flexibility of Mercy Ships and the way the organization has grown over the years.

Mercy Ships is well known for something we call "Mass Screening Days". It may even be something you think of when picture Mercy Ships in West Africa...long lines of tired people standing in the sun or rain all day for a chance to be seen by a doctor and possibly receive a free surgery. Maybe it looked something like this:

Up until a few years ago, this is how screening worked. The ship would arrive in a new country after advertising for several months about what kind of problems we can treat. We would rent out a big facility (like a stadium or empty building) and have hundreds of volunteers from the crew spend 12-14 hours seeing patients all day long, giving them dates for possible surgery and saying no to thousands of others who did not fit the criteria. Generally, the entire surgical schedule for a country would be filled in one day. While it was an exciting day that many looked forward to as "Mercy Ships Tradition", it was long and hard and not very efficient.

Then came Madagascar. This country was a completely different animal. A huge island with a poor transportation system and a port located hundreds of kilometers from the capital city - the only city that most of the population can easily get to. How do we find patients in a place like this? One giant screening day was just not an option.
In comes this idea of a Screening Team. The idea had already been in the works for a while because people had begun to realize that there had to be a better way to do things than mass screenings. Unfortunately, in our world today, we have to start considering things like safety and spread of disease. Attracting thousands of desperate people to one public place creates many problems in itself. So why not send the Screening Team to the patients instead of having them come to us? This was trialed in small scale the first year Mercy Ships was in Madagascar and used almost completely to find patients for Madagascar 2. Last year, the team went to 13 sites all over the country, screened patients we could help and invited them to the ship for a specific date when they could potentially have surgery.

Screening Team - Madagascar 2015-16

While this process is still being tweaked, it seemed to work very well for that situation. Transportation was still an issue as it can take several days to travel to certain cities in Madagascar, but thanks to a partnership with MAF (Missions Aviation Fellowship), the team was able to fly to some of the far sites and even brought some patients back to the ship by plane as well! Once the patients came to the city where the ship was docked, they were given further examination and seen by a surgeon to confirm they were fit for surgery. The screening team is made up of nurses so they are not able to confirm until a surgeon sees each patient - but they do a pretty good since something like 95% (I don't have that exact figure) of patients brought to the ship were approved for surgery.

Screening Team after a MAF trip in Madagascar

I'd consider that a pretty successful system. In fact, it worked so well that they decided to keep a similar process for future field services with a few tweaks. For Benin this year, we have had a combination screening process. When the ship first arrived, we held 3 weeks of screening days in this city. While we are not located in the capital city, Cotonou is a large city and only 1 hour from the capital so a large portion of the population live nearby. For several months, Mercy Ships advertised about these screenings with a goal to fill about 50% of our surgical spots for the 10 months we will stay in Benin. This ended up having a huge turnout and thousands of potential patients were seen.

Cotonou Screening Center

 But what about the rest of the county? While Benin is much smaller than Madagascar, the rest of the country is more rural and not as accessible. When we agreed to come here, the government specifically requested that we do all we can to reach those in need in the north of the country farther from the capital. A new idea was formed. A group of Beninoise people were trained and sent out to different regions all over the country. Mercy Ships gave each of them an iPhone and created an app that can be used to take patient information and find out if the patient fits our criteria for surgery. These workers spent several weeks searching their region to find potential patients and sending the information back via internet to the Screening Team on the ship who approved or denied each patient to attend a local screening day in that region. Talk about Tele-medicine!

And now, the screening team has just returned from the first of 2 field screening trips to the north of Benin where several small screenings will be held specifically to see the patients found by these local screeners and give them a spot to come for surgery. Maybe it's just me, but that's a pretty awesome process! We're still waiting to find out how effective this method is, but if it works, there is the potential that it could be used in future countries, saving a lot of time and energy for the screening team and reducing the number of No's that must be said.

I even had a small part in the screening process this week! As Orthopedic Team Leader for the ward, I've had the opportunity to go along with our Orthopedic surgeon the past few days as he assessed about 100 patients with Orthopedic deformities to find which patients we could help. The screening team did a great job of finding many patients who will fit into our program. Although it was a long and full 3 days of seeing patients and organizing the schedule, it was very interesting to be a part of what goes on behind the scenes before our patients get admitted to the hospital.

Orthopedic patients waiting to be seen by surgeon during screening

Straight legs coming your way!

Working on the schedule after a long day of seeing patients.

Overall, finding our surgical patients is a huge blessing and challenge - and I am extremely thankful to have a Screening Team who can do this for us! They are often the first interaction a patient has with Mercy Ships and that's a big responsibility. Many patients leave happy with a surgery date but many others must be told "No". In fact, in Madagascar last year, the screening team had to turn away over 5000 patients. While we try to do all we can in each country, we have limited space, time and scope of practice that makes it impossible to say Yes to every patient we see. It's not an easy job and this team needs your prayers as they make hard, life-changing decisions each and every day!

Is a PICTURE worth a thousand words?

I've been on the ship over 2 months now and have yet to update at all about being back. I could list a variety of excuses for not posting enough, but mostly it all boils down to the fact that I don't like to write and I never know what to say - plus, the longer I wait, the more there is to tell you about! So instead of words, I thought pictures would be an easy way to update you on what has been going on here the past 9 weeks.

I met the ship in Durban, South Africa at the end of July. This cabin is my new home for the next 10 months:

I've been given a slight upgrade this year so I only have 3 other cabinmates and a little extra room. And just last week, we got our very own couch!

The view from the ship in the Durban port...this view is very different from our usual African country landscape. Skyscrapers?! 

August 1st, it was time to sail! Lifting up the gangway is the last step in the process: 

My friends and I stood on deck for several hours watching the whole process of leaving the port. This is our "we're so excited to be moving" faces!

We had a few days of rough sailing but mostly it was very pleasant. I really enjoyed the slower pace of life (forced relaxation when you can't leave the ship) and fewer people on the ship during the sail. My absolute favorite part was the sunsets:

After a few days of sailing, we stopped in Cape Town for a quick visit. Here's the ship being tugged into the CT port. This is one of my favorite cities and it was even more special to be there with the ship this time!

After our 3 days of rest, it was time to hit the seas again. We had lots of activities during the sail to keep us occupied including movie nights, a 'sock golf' tournament, becoming "Shellbacks" as we sailed across the equator, and worship on the Bow (a part of the ship ONLY open during sails).

Just about 3 weeks from when we left Durban, we sailed into Cotonou, Benin. An arrival party complete with Beninoise music and dancing were waiting to greet us!

The day of our arrival, a ceremony was held to welcome the Africa Mercy to Benin. One of our Beninoise crew members carried the flag in the ceremony.

The next 3 weeks were filled with SCREENING: 

 Aren't the colors of West Africa so amazing! These are the types of outfits people wear everyday. (I visited the screening center one day to help with crowd control and got to see so many Orthopedic kids like this - my favorites!!)

And CLEANING: 

At the beginning of each field service the nurses have to unpack the hospital that was secured for sail, clean everything and set it up to look like this so it's all ready for our patients to come.

Finally, on September 12, the doors to the hospital opened and our first patients received surgery! Now, after 3 weeks of surgery, our wards are filling up and the joyful chaos has begun. This is Valentin, one of our first burn reconstruction patients playing with a ward nurse.

And Miracle, another plastic surgery patient. with my friend Erin from Canada. This little one in particular screamed and cried pretty much the entire first 2 days he was here but now he begs to be held and played with all the time. I love seeing the transformation!

Well, I think that pretty much catches us up on the past few months. Sorry for the lack of updates but hopefully these pictures will make up for my few words. Things are off to a great start and it's so wonderful to be back in this place where I know I am meant to be - doing what God has called us here for: to bring Hope and Healing to the country of Benin. 

Prayer Points:

-Screening Team continues to search for patients. They leave next week to visit possible patients in the north of Benin.

-Our Hope Center opened last week to accept patients once they are discharged and they're still working out a few kinks in the system.

-Many, many plastics patients who are waiting for wounds to heal: pray for skin to grow and wounds to be free from infection

-Training classes are happening for local physicians, anesthesiologists and sterilizing technicians

-Continued unity for the crew and seeking God as we serve

 -Safety and peace for the country of Benin

A Full Summer

After leaving the ship in June and spending about 2 weeks in Cape Town, I finally made it back to the US. I actually only ended up having about 5 weeks between arriving and departing back to South Africa to meet the ship once again. The best way I can describe this summer at home is "Full".

First of all, it was full as in packed to the brim with so much to do! I flew straight to North Carolina where I got to meet my niece for the first time. Definitely the highlight of my summer! (Huge thanks to my brother and sister-in-law who let me stay for 2 weeks so I could get lots of snuggle and play time with her!)

Me and my niece, Lora (7 months)

My parents also came up to visit and we had a great time as a family. It doesn't happen often that we can all be together so we took advantage of the opportunity and had family pictures taken. Having a new baby in the family is lots of fun and a great excuse for new pictures!

It was incredibly hard to say goodbye knowing I wouldn't see them again for another year, but it was time to make one more flight - this time back to Florida. My 3 weeks in the Sunshine State were packed with several weekend trips to see my grandparents and church family, lots of eating out with my Mom and Dad at restaurants I haven't had for a year, and catching up with friends and supporters. There was also the craziness of unpacking, restocking and repacking my life again into two 50lb suitcases. (One afternoon was also spent with a reporter from the Palm Beach Post who wrote an article about Mercy Ships and my time in Madagascar. Yikes! What a weird feeling to read about myself in the newspaper! If you haven't seen the article yet, here's the link: http://www.mypalmbeachpost.com/news/news/local-education/royal-palm-nurse-changes-lives-by-tending-to-afric/nsBLG/ Welcome to any new readers who were directed here by the article!) 

These weeks at home were also full of blessings, some in ways I would have never imagined. As odd as it sounds, I was ready to be home, but at the same time, I was already looking forward to coming back to the ship! As much as I love ship life, the last few months here were hard. If you read my blog about goodbyes, you'll see part of why, but there was also the end of year exhaustion and loss of enthusiasm as things come to a close that is very draining. I physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually needed a break. Heading home, I was looking forward to a time to refresh, recharge and grow...however, you know that saying, "You don't know what you have until it's gone"? Turned out to be very true.

I went home expecting to enjoy the family time, catching up with friends and western conveniences (which were all great!) but actually I was surprised how much I really liked getting to share about Mercy Ships! No, I still don't love public speaking (and thankfully, only had to officially do that once) but get me with a group of friends or at a table with one or two others and I will happily talk for hours. This has nothing to do with me wanting to talk about myself - that part I try to avoid! What I do love is to talk about my experiences, this ministry and the miracles God did in the country of Madagascar (and how excited I was to be heading to Benin!), It's not always easy and I had a few tough questions, but being forced to put into words what happened in the previous year made me appreciate this life and feel privileged and humbled to be a part of it. I don't know if it always came out this way, but inside I felt giddy at times talking about this place I love and I hope my face lit up as much as my heart does when I talk about it.

As I was talking with people back home, I realized that most only have a small idea of what we do. I know this life so intimately and live with others in the thick of it, so it was helpful to be reminded that not everyone has a full picture of Mercy Ships. I aim to do a better job in future blogs of explaining more of that part.

While I still claim Florida as 'home', I also call this ship my 'home'. Home is difficult thing to express. I love my family and friends and wish I would be with them more often, but I also love this crazy ship and the people here. Through my time away, I've realized more than ever that this is the place I'm meant to be right now. I'm blessed to have this opportunity and never want to take for granted what a gift it is to be serving here for this time - however long God allows me to continue. 

Cape Town Transition

Well, I’ve been back on the ship about 3 weeks and in the country of Benin for 4 days now! I have much to share but first I thought I’d give a little update about what’s happened in the past few months between leaving Madagascar and arriving here.

A few months before departing Madagascar, myself and a group of 5 other nurse friends decided it would be fun to plan a trip together as a transition between ship and home life. We also figured we would be ready for some relaxation after 10 months of hard work! We flew straight from Madagascar to Cape Town, South Africa and enjoyed about 10 days of exploring the city.

On our first day, we headed a few hours north to Aquilla Game Reserve where we spent 1 night in a gorgeous stone bungalow, ate delicious South African meals and enjoyed 2 safari tours of the reserve to see giraffes, antelopes, elephants, buffalo, hippopotamus, cheetahs, lions and more! This was the biggest splurge of our trip but it was so refreshing to be pampered for 24 hours and experience the nature of South Africa up close.

Back in Cape Town, we rented an Air BnB house to have room for us all to stay together. It was lovely and spacious and basically felt like a mansion after 10 months on a ship in Madagascar, haha! From our location we had bird’s eye views of Table Mountain above and the city below. Over the next week or so, we hit up pretty much all the major tourist sights Cape Town has to offer: Red Bus Tour of the city, Robben Island, Cape Point, Boulders Beach and Penguins, Winery Tour, V&A Waterfront, Table Mountain, plus lots of great food, shopping and exploring.

One of the days, we took a long detour a few hours away from the city to go Bungy Jumping!

Bloukrans Bridge is the tallest commercial bridge bungy jump in the world so, of course, we had to do it! The views were amazing and it was definitely a once-in –a-lifetime experience…but I don’t know if I’d be up for a repeat any time soon ;)

Cape Town is a beautiful city with SO much to offer and I’d highly recommend it as a vacation destination! (Good thing I liked it, because just about 6 weeks later I was back in the city again, this time when the ship stopped for a visit on the way to Benin - see future posts for more on that!) It was also relatively inexpensive, which made it a perfect transition for volunteers with no money coming from very low cost Madagascar. Those 2 weeks with friends will be remembered and cherished for many years to come, but by the end I was ready to head home and excited for the summer of ‘catch up‘ ahead!!

Madagascar II Recap

During my time at home in June and July, I shared this video put together by our Communications Team during some group presentations. I thought I would post it here so you can see all that happened during the Madagascar 2 Field Service 2015-2016!

1453 patients received free surgeries in Madagascar! It's so incredible to think of that number and how many lives were changed through Mercy Ships. But these individuals are more than a number.

It reminds me of a quote I once heard that says "Every number has a name, every name has a story and every story matters to God". We often use numbers to quantify the work that we do, but it goes deeper than that. These are people with stories and lives that will go onto completely different paths than they would have without the medical care that Mercy Ships provides. And it would not be possible without your help. Thank you!!!

Fifalina: Pint-Sized Courage

We are only allowed to post certain things about our patients in order to protect their privacy, which is why many of my posts are not hospital related. I could tell you hundreds of stories about the patients I've had the privilege to care for in the past 8 months, but to keep to those rules, I will let our amazing Communications Team do it for me! You may not realize that we have an entire team of people who work on the Africa Mercy taking photos and videos and writing patient stories to share with our donors and other media outlets. Not only do they interview the patients and caregivers to find out more details about their lives than I could, they also are WAY better writers :) We have a pretty large collection of these stories and photos that I plan to share so you can see the impact Mercy Ships has had on country and people of Madagascar. (If you missed the first post in this series, check out Laloa's story here.)
In the second of this collection of patient stories, you will read about Fifalina. One of the sweetest nine year olds I've ever met, Fifalina stayed with us in the hospital on and off for several months. She has a beautiful smile and the most positive outlook on a very hard life. Her favorite activity during weeks of bedrest was drawing perfect cartoon pictures. If you look at the before images below, you'll see why even I was doubtful of the success of this surgery...and maybe proof that miracles still happen!

The tiny nine-year-old struggled into the Mercy Ships admissions tent. Fifalina’s legs seemed to be slowly folding beneath her. They could no longer hold her erect. 

Her mother, Ludvine, says Fifalina’s legs were normal at birth. However, when Fifalina started to walk, she often fell, and Ludvine noticed that her legs began to curve. 

Fifalina’s father had to find work each day to provide for his family, but they managed to scrape together enough money to visit a doctor. He told them the little girl needed calcium and said there was nothing more he could do. Then the desperate parents sought help from a traditional healer who massaged Fifalina’s legs. Nothing helped, and her legs continued to weaken. 

This bright little girl was eager to attend school despite her physical challenges. Initially, Fifalina could walk the 30 minutes required. “Her curved legs were getting worse and worse,” Ludvine recalls. “One time she fell down at school. After that, her legs were really curved, and her knees could not support her.” So Ludvine carried her daughter on her back to and from school every day.

But school wasn’t always a pleasant experience. Fifalina whispers, “At school I'm always left behind. I can't play with the other kids. I'll play with the other kids when I'm healed.”

Ludvine first heard about Mercy Ships on television. “They said Mercy Ships is healing,” she explains. “At the beginning we did not know that they are fixing legs. I just knew about them removing tumors. They published a video. When I saw Vanya’s story*,  I wanted to see healing in my daughter.”

They learned of a patient screening nearby. “I believed they could fix my legs!” exclaims Fifalina. “I said to myself, ‘Let's just go there, and we will see.’” She was examined and given an appointment.

Mercy Ships consultant Dr Frank Haydon (USA) performed complex orthopedic surgeries,  correcting Fifalina’s twisted upper and lower legs by rotating her bones through more than 200 degrees. A series of pins now holds her knees and hips in alignment. After surgery, Fifalina was enveloped in full-leg plaster casts that weighed almost as much as she did.

At nine, Fifalina is the average height (according to the World Health Organization) of a four-year-old. The utter cuteness of this child, displayed in her infectious giggle and broad grin, disguises the valiant heart of a tiny warrior. Time and time again during her procedures, Fifalina smiled, bit her lip, and pushed through a pain-barrier that would make a grown woman whimper.

When her leg casts were first removed, Fifalina declared, “I’m going to learn to walk again!” Ludvine gasped and shed tears when she first saw her daughter’s straight little legs.

Months of splints and physical therapy followed Fifalina’s surgery as she bravely relearned to walk. Her muscles, weak from years of disuse, were retrained by a team of volunteer physiotherapists. Daily routines were performed with peals of laughter and entertaining activities.

Ludvine had plenty of time to reflect as they journeyed through the six-month long process of surgery and rehabilitation. “If they did not fix her legs, she would suffer a lot, and I would suffer too. If her legs were left like they were, I think she would end by walking on her knees. When I look at the photo before the surgery, I can see that her legs are so curved, like if her knees are going down. So if they did not fix them, forever it would be like it was. Our problem would get worse and worse. I would not be able to carry her on my back. Now she will be able to walk and just hold my hand!”

Finally the day arrived when Fifalina could achieve her milestone tasks unaided – balancing on one leg, walking with one foot in front of the other, and standing on tiptoes. These ordinary playtime activities were herculean and enchanting new experiences for this not-so-ordinary nine-year-old.

Ludvine thinks Fifalina would make a great teacher when she grows up, but the Mercy Ships crew members will tell you that Fifalina is already a pint-sized inspiration.

Story by Sharon Walls 

Edited by Nancy Predaina

Photos by Catrice Wulf, Justine Forrest, Katie Keegan, and Ruben Plomp

Fifalina was only two years old when her legs began to bend.  She received free complex surgeries to her upper and lower legs onboard the Africa Mercy.

Fifalina’s mother comforted and encouraged her daughter during her long recuperation.

Fifalina’s bones were corrected by more than 200 degrees of rotation.

Fifalina is now headed into a very different future.