28 SEPTEMBER 2008

UPDATE!!!!!!!

What a great day.
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Habah called me at 12pm from Celestine's bedside. He was amazed. One day after a surgery to remove a tumor that had been growing FROM her mouth, she was eating a solid meal - french fries and chicken. He said he couldn't believe what he was seeing, that it was the same person. Celestine told him that she looked in the mirror and cried for an hour - she hadn't seen her lips for 8 years. He also told me that she had a new personality, that she couldn't stop talking to him about how the village at home would be so surprised, and she had barely said a word on the 8 hour bus ride to Nairobi last Wednesday.
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Later on in the day I asked Maurice to go and check on her children as we'd left them with a caretaker and given them some money for food until Celestine's return. He found them all happy and healthy. Celestine doesn't have a cell phone and neither does anyone in her family so they basically said goodbye to her and trusted that she would be back. As Maurice entered the village, people recognized him and started migrating towards her house where he was headed. They stood around outside while he went in to see her father. They were all expecting bad news - after all, she hadn't returned with him. But when Maurice told her father the news, that the tumor was gone, and she was healthy and returning in a few days, he jumped up and down in the air two times before running outside to tell everyone (Maurice's words!!). He was yelling out "God is Great" and within seconds all of the women from the village were gathered around dancing and clapping. How we managed to accomplish this surgery in so few months (since May the end of April when they saw me for the first time) is truly a mystery to them.
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It's true, I did put everything together for this to happen, but every single step of the way on the ground was performed BY Kenyan's, FOR Kenyan's and they should all be very proud of themselves for that. I know that when I get back there next month, everyone is going to help me to build her a suitable home and support her as she starts her new life over again.
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This, truly, is incredible.
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I want to thank everyone who has already committed themselves to donating to Celestine's cause. We have still incurred some expenses throughout this process which we 'borrowed' from funding from other projects within TUMAINI since it was so urgently needed. I know that we'll be able to replace it through your help, and I am sure that there will be enough left over to build that house next month. I can't wait to post updated pictures. Please email us at flan.amanda@gmail.com if you are able to assist via a monetary donation in whatever amount - every little bit helps.