Smiles all round thanks to Farida
We met six-month old Farida at the Korle Bu Teaching hospital. Farida has an infectious smile and brightened everyone’s day while she waited with her mum for life-changing cleft surgery.
Farida’s a bright, happy baby, with an infectious grin. Sitting happily on her mother’s lap outside the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Ghana, she’s an immediate hit with everyone who meets her. Farida’s sunny disposition means she’s unphased by the photographer who’s here to document her journey to a new smile, or the medical volunteers who will soon be doing her pre-surgery health checks.
Mum Alimatu tells us she didn’t find out about her daughter’s cleft until birth. Thankfully staff at their local hospital showed her before and after photos of patients who had had surgery and Alimatu was comforted to know that surgery was possible as soon as Farida was old enough.
At the hospital today Farida is one of a number of children waiting to find out if they will be able to have life-changing cleft surgery. It’s a warm, humid day in September and hopeful parents and their children wait in the shade of large trees outside, on chairs borrowed from the waiting room. Many have made long journeys to be here, and all are hoping for good news. Sadly not all will get surgery this time – a cough, cold or fever can change everything – but the Operation Smile Ghana team will be on hand to support them until the time is right.
Some of the families are staying in patient accommodation within the hospital grounds, paid for by Operation Smile. This gives them chance to rest and benefit from the support and camaraderie of other parents waiting for cleft care. For some parents this might be the first time they’ve met other families in the same situation. Parents of children with cleft conditions often speak of their relief when they meet other families at surgical programmes, the relief of knowing they’re not alone.
Alimatu knows the team here in Ghana well. She has been taking Farida to Operation Smile Ghana’s nutrition programme every month. The team have been giving her free nutrition supplements and advice to help Farida grow strong and healthy enough for surgery.
Thanks to their efforts Farida’s now a healthy weight for her age. After a thorough examination – which Farida smiles and giggles her way through – the medical volunteers are delighted to announce that she’s well enough for surgery.
Farida is still smiling as the medical volunteers get her ready for her operation. Today she’s being operated on by a local team of volunteers including Ghanaian cleft surgeon Dr Kwame Darko and anaesthetist Benjamin who carries her into the operating room.
It’s an anxious wait for Alimatu, while Farida is in theatre, but she’s reassured by the presence of other parents and her confidence in the local Operation Smile Ghana team who she’s come to trust.
When Alimatu sees Farida for the first time in the recovery room, she is visibly overjoyed. She tells us she can’t understand how it is possible for her daughter’s cleft lip to healed. Farida is sleepy after her anaesthetic, but the following day when we meet them again – she’s back to her usual bubbly self. It’s amazing to see how well her small scar is healing.
Alimatu tells us she can’t wait to go home and show her daughter’s transformation to her husband, friends and family. Now Farida has had surgery, Alimatu says she hopes she’ll be able to go to school and one day become a nurse or doctor so she can help others. She says, “Thank you so much for everything Operation Smile has done for us, I could have never been able to afford the surgery. Now I am so happy for my daughter!”