A ReSurge volunteer team is currently working in Bolivia on a surgical mission trip co-sponsored by the American Society for Surgery of the Hand (ASSH). ReSurge board member and trip documentarian Eileen Sheldon will be blogging about the experience.
Naima is a darling 5 year old boy we met halfway through Clinic Day on Monday, May 14. He was born with bilateral polydactyly, which is a congenital anomaly that results in extra fingers or toes. In Naima’s case, he had an extra digit on the outside of either hand. Despite his condition, Naima leads an active life as a kindergartner and lover of football. His family lives in the remote country, a nearly seven-hour journey from La Paz. At home, Naima’s mother tends to a small herd of animals that consists of several cows, sheep and a pig. She also plants and harvest potatoes. The cow and sheep milk and the potatoes are used to feed Naima’s family. The cheese from the animals is sold on Wednesdays at the local market. Naomi’s father works as a hairdresser in El Alto, on the outskirts of La Paz. On weekends he travels home to the country to help Naima’s mother tend to her animals and to see his children.
Several months ago, Naima’s mother and father heard an advertisement over the radio about ReSurge International traveling to La Paz to conduct hand surgeries with host surgeon Dr. Jorge Terrazas. They knew that was the only opportunity for them to get surgical help for Naima. As a result, they worked around the clock to save the money to pay for the seven hour journey to the hospital in La Paz.
Clinic day arrived and Naima and his father and grandmother made the journey to La Paz early in the morning. They gathered patiently with other patients and waited to be evaluated for surgery.
Because Naima lived a significant distance from the hospital, the surgeons scheduled his case on the first day. We assumed Naima and his father and grandmother would stay overnight in the hospital. However, we later learned that they returned to their home after clinic day. They arrived around 9:00 pm and were greeted by Naima's mother, who had prepared potato soup with chicken.
After dinner, Naima was put to bed. His mother awakened him at 2:00 am. They got on a bicycle and rode it a full hour in order to catch a bus to La Paz. Once they boarded the bus, they had a multi-hour ride. They arrived in time to check-in for Naima’s mid-day surgery.
Naima’s surgery was very successful. He left the recovery room with his grateful mother, an enormous smile and a new soccer ball. We convinced his mother to stay in the hospital overnight, and put off the long journey home for tomorrow when both of them are feeling better.
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