Urgent Appeal: Children With Cleft Lip and Palate

Nine-month-old Asli, born with a cleft, arrived at Yoya Hospital in Adama with her parents. Her family are farmers, residing in the Oromia Region. Umar mentioned that such cleft cases had not occurred in their family before Asli.

Asli had previously visited Saglan Wajee Hospital for treatment but was not treated for cleft lip because she had Anemia. After three months, she had shown positive changes and returned to Yoya Hospital for further treatment.

Before receiving treatment at Yoya Hospital Asli's mother shared her experience. She expressed the challenges they faced as a family, being the first in their family to have a child with a cleft lip. This condition led to social isolation, with some family members distancing themselves. Ali’s father also struggled emotionally, which affected Asli’s mother deeply.

Asli’s mother highlighted the misconceptions in their community regarding cleft conditions, often attributed to acts of God, evil spirits, or punishment. She recounted the discomfort of visiting public places such as the market place. She would receive a lot of questions about her child’s condition and faced difficulty explaining her child's condition. This led to avoidance of public spaces and occasions.

Nutrition posed another challenge for Asli, as she struggled to eat solid foods comfortably due to her condition. Hamziya noted the limited diet options, mostly consisting of soft and liquid foods.

Asli underwent treatment at Yoya Hospital which brought hope and relief to the family. They expressed gratitude for the treatment received and acknowledged their fortune compared to others facing similar challenges.

Asli's parents said:

"We are very excited about the treatment given to our child. Certainly, we consider ourselves lucky with the outcome. Asli is fortunate compared to others with cleft conditions."

Links:

• Donate to Project Harar

Amen came to Arbaminch General hospital to receive surgery for his cleft lip. He was four months and two weeks old and came with his parents. The family found out about Project Harar’s programme from Facebook. His mother told us that her “husband uses the app and he saw one of the posts on Facebook and we followed up on the date of the mission. After that we travelled here so Amen can get his surgery.”

Amen’s mum went on to recall her experience at the hospital, explaining that “When he was first born the nurse saw him and told me that Amen has a condition. I did not see him at that moment so I was confused and scared. She proceeded to tell me that he had cleft lip and that it could be corrected through surgery. She then handed him over to me and when I saw him I cried, he was my first-born child and I could not control myself. The doctors told me that he will be fine and that he could get the surgery once he was old enough.

When Amen’s parents took him home for the first time, many people asked them what had happened to him and they had to explain that it was a condition he was born with. However, his mother told us that they were lucky to “live in a city area, where some people are familiar with cleft lip and they told me that it would be corrected by surgery and how they have seen similar conditions before.”

Having people around the family who where aware of cleft conditions provided reassurance that Amen would be able to receive treatment which would allow him to live a life without health and social barriers.“When he grows up I want him to be a good student and become a doctor someday, I want him to help people by his profession.”

“From the bottom of my heart thank you for all you have done and for all you are doing. I have seen many children you have helped before on social media and as a mother, I can tell you how happy I am to see children like Amen getting this surgery.”

Links:

• Amen's Story on our website