Mikias' Story - An Ethiopian Child Gets Direct Help For Osteomyelitis

May 2010
Through the direct help of the Mediterranea Organization, an Ethiopian child, Mikias, who had chronic osteomyelitis in his right forearm, was brought to Mallorca for care and attention and his first operation towards successfully helping him toward recovery.

After several days with intravenous antibiotics, he was put in the operating room to clean up his damaged area.  It was found that there was a very important bone destruction, created by the infection, so it will be necessary to transplant a fibula bone from his leg , in order to save the forearm.

Mikias must be out of the hospital for one month- to be sure that the area is clean from bacteria’s - and after this month the second operation will take place and we hope it will be the final one one.

Mikias began with his osteomyelitis (infection in the bone) 3 years ago. He had a fracture that could have been cured, without any problem had there been the means and the antibiotics, but by not having access to them, he has spent a lot of time going to and from hospitals and slowly becoming worse.

He spent a  year in a hospital without specific treatment, only traction.  In another Hospital they wanted to cut his arm and in another one they put him a plaster cast for three months  ………

He was fortunate to find a Cuban traumatologist, who belongs to the Cuban medical brigades and works in the St. Paulo’s Hospital in Addis.

This doctor removed the plaster cast, and the wound, in Mikias’ arm, was swarming with worms.

The Cuban specialist has been giving him, during several months, antibiotics that he miraculously, managed to get (in Ethiopia all medicines have to be paid for), and this has allowed Mikias to survive.

We heard  about  Mikias, through this Cuban Doctor.

Mikias has a 7 years-old brother and his mother who is 5 months’ pregnant. He is here with his father.

When we were last  in Addis, we visited his mother. They live in an extremely humble house and she is helped by the solidarity of their neighbours. Her husband who is here now is the only bread winner.

Mediterranean is taking care of the Mikia's mother and brother while the father is unable to work and support his family.

 We have learnt that when we take on a responsibility like this we have to see if in helping the child we might be creating a problem or worsening a need in the family. Nothing is as simple as it may look initially and all angles have to be studied and evaluated.
When these families send us photos they put on their best clothes or a lent clothes by the photographer, so their real condition at times is hard to judge.

Mikias is a very good student. He learned, after he had the problem with his arm, to write with his left hand.    His illness has never been an impediment for learning.
He is also a very brave and resistant child who can put up with a lot of suffering and pain..
At present Mikias and his father are staying in the house Martha and the other Mikias stayed at in Portals Nous.

Abigida School: A story behind every child.

To be able to enter in the Abugida’s school, the families of the children must present a certificate of poverty issued by the Kebele. Apart from this, the following factors are considered:

* Children of single mothers (some of them have had their first child at the age of 13 or 14 years old).
* Orphans who the grandmothers take care of.
* HIV positive children
* The families that live in rented  houses.
* The Kebele’s rental houses are reserved for the poorest families.

Children selected for the nursery, plus the new children of two years, have been selected according to their family and health situation.
The majority are children of single mothers, abandoned by their husbands when they were pregnant or at the moment of having the child.
Most of these women, when they can work, cook injera in the houses, wash clothes, or they work as maids just for having a place to live, for themselves and their children.

Here are  some of the typical stories about the children who are selected for the nursery and for the class of two year olds.:----------------------

** J’s mother, named F., is 29 years old and her child is 12 months old. Her husband abandoned her when she was eight months pregnant; she lives with a family that gives her accommodation, without pay, in exchange for her to be their maid.
** F’s mother, named E., is 23 years old and her girl is 18 months.  Mother and  child are HIV+s and her husband abandoned them when he found out (even though he gave her the virus). They are living with her parents in a kebele’s house and pay 15 birrs per month (0.83 euros) rent.
** The mother of B, a 2 years old boy, named Z is 23 years old and lives with her husband. The husband had an accident three years ago, working in  construction , and remains paraplegic. The woman keep the family with her work, she cooks injera and washes clothes in several houses.  
** The mother of K., a 14 months old girl, named S., is 20 years old.  She lives with her father who has a monthly pension of 60 birrs (3.3 euros);  K’s father left the mother when she became pregnant; they live in a Kebele’s house.
**S. works when she finds a job.  
** The mother of K., a 33 months old child with a major chronic malnutrition (that is why he has been accepted in the class of children two years old ) is named F. and is 25 years old. She works cooking injera and washing clothes; her husband abandoned her when her child was 4 months old.  
** The mother of E, a 9 months old girl, named A., is 31 years old; mother and child are HIV+, the husband left them when he learned of their condition and took everything they have in the house, that is: bed, chair and table, and left to marry another woman in Addis.

Deafness or simply injustice?

M.K is the mother of one of the children in Mediterranea's school in Abugida. She was deaf. She was just one of the 250000 deaf people in the country. Of course she had never consulted with a doctor about this. Hear deafness conditioned her every day life and her work possibilities. If being healthy is not enough in Ethiopia to guarantee any quality of life or job opportunity, then having any kind of invalidity turns the struggle for existence in to a night mare.
We were asked to see M.K. when we were carrying out the check-ups on the babies in our school. On examination M.K. was found to have both ears totally blocked with old hard wax. The wax had been there for years and had led her to believe that she should be deaf for the rest of her life.
A 20ml syringe and a bit of hot water quickly returned her hearing to her. This made us meditate on how a small problem can become a very big one in the Third World and specially in Ethiopia where the vast majority of people have no access to medical help or medicines.
A third of the population when it needs to get medical help it has to sacrifice other basic things in life like food or education. Ethiopia is the country where babies and children get the least basic medical attention. They have only and doctor per 33000 inhabitants. (Europe: 1 doctor/700-2400 people)
There have been advances in vaccination campaigns and treatment of HIV+ people but there are still and enormous number of people in situations similar to M.K. which can be solved with simple treatments.
 

A big Thank You to all our donors on the Europe Day 2010

Minkner and Partner

House of Katmandu

Marineland

Golf Fantasia

Edesia Restaurant, Palma
Axis  chiropractor
Bodhana, massages and pedicure
Bridgeport Restaurant
Calvia Hand Car Wash
Rosita's Restaurant, Calvia
Mood Beach Restaurant, Portals
Guapa handbags, Peguera
La Source Jewellery
The Wine Educators
And all those other businesses and people who have helped make the day a great success.

Abugida

Abugida school, Addis Ababa. 2010
Click HERE to see a skide show.

Hospital visit

We visited Mykias and his father in Son Dureta Hospital on Sunday. Mykias looked much better and has put on a bit of weight. We took him toys and a netbook computer which enthralled him and he quickly learnt, with Laura's help, how to play games on it.

If all goes according to plan he will leave the hospital this week and he will stay Chez Foster's for a month as he regenerates for his next operation.