Urgent Appeal: Children With Cleft Lip and Palate

Selam arrived at Gamby hospital to receive treatment for her cleft condition with both of her parents who are farmers in Amhara. Selam’s mother shared her experience as follows;

‘I was the first to give birth to a child with a cleft lip in our family and because of her condition my family shunned me and left me to raise Selam by myself. I was sad and became moody about my baby.’

‘Our community believes in this case in different ways, such as an act of God, an evil spirit, or a punishment related to wrong-doing by my family.When I go to market, straight away people ask me to explain my child’s condition. Sometimes I don’t want to talk about it so because of this I always fear entering public spaces. Furthermore, my child always has difficulty eating
because she cannot chew or swallow comfortably.Therefore she cannot eat the food that she wants and most of the time I have to give her soft foods and liquid foods.’

Selam’s mother told us ‘Project Harar has solved my problems and given my daughter a good service, so I am very excited about the treatment and Selam’s future.’