Back from South Sudan: Surgeries changed lives

“It was very busy. We operated 10 to 12 hours a day, just because we didn’t want to turn people away,” he said.

As a result of the surgeries at least 15 people changed their names to represent their transformation in a culture which previously defined them by their physical differences.

The surgeries were organized by World Medical Mission, the medical arm of international relief organization Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan’s Purse pilots flew to 15 different villages for a total of 30 trips and 10,000 miles to fly families into Juba Teaching Hospital.

“Within a day post-operation, they could hop on a plane and be flown back to their villages,” Boeve said.

Those needing surgeries were identified by local missionaries or medical workers in the small communities, and had never flown in an airplane before. While the patients came in a bit shell-shocked and terrified about what was going to happen, the pilots reported them leaving in elation and finally being welcomed back into their families.

When someone in the United States is born with a cleft lip or palate, the surgery needed to repair the problem is easily obtained. However, in countries like South Sudan someone will likely suffer a life of shame and loneliness, shunned by their families and without employment. Boeve said those with a cleft lip and/or palate can be seen as possessed by the devil and can be outcast from their communities and children can even be left to die unless a caring friend or relative takes them in.

In his most recent trip, Boeve said he heard many personal stories of people being welcomed back into their families followed by forgiveness to those who once shunned them. One mother and child, for example, had been abandoned by the father of the family for eight years due to the mother and child each having a cleft. After receiving the surgeries, Boeve said the father took them back.

“He fell on his knees and begged for an apology,” he said.

Boeve explained those who have been shunned tend not to blame their families for turning them away.

“They felt there was a curse here but now it is gone,” he said.

During the trip Boeve also got to reconnect with a patient from his trip last year, a 13-year-old girl named Betty who traveled to South Sudan to thank Boeve for his work. While the girl had once lived outside her village with an aunt after her parents abandoned her, Betty reported a new life since her surgery.

“She said she was in school now. She had aspirations, wanted to become a doctor and be able to do this work,” Boeve said.

Boeve said he stayed in a little hotel in Juba, and usually had a bit of rice for dinner. Although it was an arduous week, he said there’s no question the trips remain the highlight of his life because of the lives he changes in such a short amount of time.

For more information visit www.samaritanspurse.org^[1]. Those who are interested in making a donation to Samaritan’s Purse Cleft Lip and Palate Program can send a check with the number 013979 to identify the fund.

References

1. ^{^} www.samaritanspurse.org (www.samaritanspurse.org)