18 SEPTEMBER 2008

I'm getting ready to return to Kenya once again and I've got big plans. Celestine is just one part of them! The eyes that you saw in my previous entry below came from this exact same picture, but this time I've chose to show you another part or it, the child that Celestine was holding when I met her. Her baby is too young to understand the situation that she is in, and cannot comprehend the reason that they suffer on a daily basis.

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Over the last 4 months I've been sending emails out to every medical facility on the planet in the hopes of finding a surgical team willing to treat her for free. I've learned that people can be so GOOD through that experience with almost EVERY SINGLE email being responded to positively, with top surgical professionals all over the UK and the USofA willing to do the operation -for no charge. Right now the best option is definetely MERCY SHIPS, a non-profit organization full of volunteer professional medical staff that sail the world helping people with deformities and other medical conditions like hers. They are docked in MONROVIA, LIBERIA (West Africa) right now and after a few emails back and forth, Celestine has been booked for surgery on the 20th of October. That's NEXT MONTH!

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I wish it were only that simple. In order for her to travel to Liberia (WEST AFRICA) she needs 1. a PLANE TICKET (which I am haggling Kenya Airways to sponsor as we speak) which is valued at $1500 USD return trip, 2. a PASSPORT, and 3. a LIBERIAN VISA. In order to get a passport a person has to have a birth certificate and a national ID card. National ID cards are a must by the Kenyan legal system once an individual reaches 18 years of age. We've found out that not only does Celestine not have a Birth Certificate, but she doesn't even have an ID card. The lack of birth certificate was not a big surprise to me after living there for 7 months previously and doing interviews at the childrens homes that attended Tumaini Academy - the reality is that most children in the villages are born inside the home. When asked about the ID card, Celestine said that the Assistant Chief of the area told her she could NOT have one, because of the disfiguration on her face. I am infuriated by this and certainly hope it's not true - I'll certainly be speaking with this Assistant Chief next month. Let's hope for his/her sake that it's not true... I will not be happy (have you seen me get upset?!?!). Right now we are in the process of getting Celestine a national ID card which I'm feeling positive about right now but normally takes up to 3 months to obtain. Knowing a few people in 'high places' is going to work to my advantage this time around. Next we'll get her Passport issued, which will take a few weeks but I've learned that we can get a temporary one for now - so that she can at least travel on the right date for the surgery. The Liberian Visa is another issue. Finding a PDF form on any Liberian government website is impossible, because as far as I can see, it doesn't even exist. The only hope is for me to fly to Ethiopia again soon with my job and get to the embassy there as they don't have one in Kenya. OF COURSE , all of these things cost money...

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I've been sending my programs manager, Maurice Mwanza, to check on her situation regularly and I continually hear about the sad state that her home is in. She is a single mother to her two children but she also shares her home with her father. Her mother passed away a few years ago and her husband ran away when her tumour started growing at least 6 years ago. My friend Habah joined Maurice on the last visit in order to fill out the PASSPORT application form a few days ago and he called me while he was standing in front of her house. He couldn't believe how she was living. His exact words were: "She sleeps on the floor with her father and two children under tattered rags, and when it rains, the house must fill with water". Apparently they also share their home with 2 ducks. Sleeping on a wet, mud floor amongst duck feces is no way to live. I can easily picture it, because I've seen it before - and it's an urgent situation. With her appearance, getting a job is not an option, even if we were to set her up a small road side business selling local food commodoties, nobody would purchase from her because of the taboo beliefs about her situation regarding witch craft. The only option is to assist her in building a small home to protect her and her children, and getting this surgery done.

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HERE IS THE HOME THAT CELESTINE AND HER FAMILY LIVE IN CURRENTLY - COMING SOON - A BUDGET FOR A SMALL HOUSE...

It's a great opportunity to sponsor someone who sincerely needs it. Please check out my old blog: http://www.gone-gone-going-africa.blogspot.com/ and find the story; "FROM RAGS TO RICHES" where you can read about the family we built a home for last year through the help of a sponsor from Canada.