Changing faces, changing lives

Wednesday 8th October

My first appointment was not until 9.30am so I managed to squeeze an early morning swim in steaming hot pool at the Hilton. I couldn't swim for long as it was far too hot! Still, I'm sure I could get used to this lifestyle.

I met Chris Lawrence from Facing Africa shortly after the swim and we went to the Yekatit 12 Hospital. For the next three weeks, surgeons and medical professionals from Europe will be performing facial reconstructive surgery on Noma victims and those with shocking facial disfigurements including burns, tumours and even hyena bites. The team will be operating on 48 patients in total. I went around the wards where some who've already been operated on are recovering. I was overwhelmed with how brave and positive they were. Some have waited years for this treatment.

I then changed into scrubs and went into the operating theatre. The nurses warned me that I may feel a little queasy. I thought I would be fine but after five minutes of watching the surgeons removing tissue from the scalp to graft onto the affected are on the face left me rather shaky so I stepped outside. After regaining my composure I entered the second operating theatre where a seven year old boy was undergoing surgery. The medical professionals were doing an absolutely amazing job and for the first time I felt truly lost for words and was almost brought to tears.

I was then driven up to the Menagesha Home in the hills surrounding Addis Ababa. Here, the patients undergoing facial reconstructive surgery are prepared for their operations and then cared for while they recover. The patients are mixing well with the Menagesha Home's usual patients, children with physical disabilities. They had been prepared for seeing the facial disfigurements before the new patients arrived so were not too shocked by their appearance.

I was shown around the Menagesha Home and met many of the disabled children receiving treatment there. Common causes for their disabilities include polio and amputations as a result of car accidents, land mines and even snake bites. The children are given crutches, wheelchairs, leg braces and prosthetic limbs. They are also given extensive physiotherapy to help them to walk again. The leg braces and prosthetic limbs are manufactured on site. Each has to be slightly different depending on the exact disability of the child. The average stay is about six months. During this time the children are educated in the home so they don't fall behind at school.

I met with Gebremedhin, the Manager, to discuss finances and their proposed new building in the city centre. An American couple were there to discuss funding a hydro-therapy centre for the patients. It looks like a fantastically well run project in a beautiful, peaceful location, away from the polluted air of the city.