This summer, Anouk Allard travelled to Bumala where she devoted her time and talent to the children of Mercy Children Centre. With a background in Athletic Therapy and Emergency Care, Anouk kept an eye on the well being of the children.
During her 6-week stay in Bumala, she met a young girl, Michelle. Michelle needs a skin graft. We hope to raise enough money so that she can get a much needed skin graft and proper aftercare for a full recovery. Here is the story of Michelle.
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OneChildsVillage.org
August 13, 2009 |
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Michelle is 8 years old and in Grade 3. She is one of the orphans attending the Mercy Children Centre school in Bumala, Kenya. Her grandmother takes care of her and her two older sisters. Like many of the children attending the school, Michelle lives in poverty.
In May, Michelle had a fever. Her grandmother, concerned, took her to the local clinic in Bumala. She received an injection. Unfortunately, a few days later, Michelle developed some complications. The area where she had received the injection got infected and the surrounding skin began to undergo necrosis—that is, the flesh started to die. The clinic referred Michelle to the nearest hospital which was in Busia, a town 30 minutes from Bumala.
While at the hospital, the doctors performed a surgical procedure (debridement) on Michelle—on two separate occasions—where they removed the dead tissue from her left buttock and thigh. When Anouk visited Michelle for the first time the day after the second debridement, she found her lying on a simple bed, without sheets, and with another sick child lying beside her. Her bed was in a large room with thirty other sheetless beds with two, or sometimes three, sick children per bed. Her bandage was sullied with blood and pus and needed to be changed. |
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Michelle holding a scribbler for school. |
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<<Warning>>
This photo contains graphic content and should be viewed at your discretion.
Michelle's bandage which hasn't been changed in 2 days. You can see the extent of the wound, spanning from her upper knee to her thigh. |
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Michelle spent about a week in the hospital, after which she told her grandmother she wanted to go back home. Five children had passed away during her stay. She did not want to die in the hospital. She returned home with no skin left on her buttock spanning all the way down to her knee.
While back in her village, Michelle went to the local clinic daily to get her bandage changed. Anouk accompanied her the first morning and was shocked by what she saw. The bandage, stuck to Michelle’s wound, was pulled off. The nurse then poured peroxide all over the open sore. It is easy to imagine how painful such a procedure would be…especially with no medicine for the pain.
Once the sore was cleaned, a new bandage was applied. However, nonadhesive gauze is rarely available in rural Africa. Though the wound was not infected at that point, there was little hope that it could undergo the necessary scarring due to the harshness of peroxide treatment. |
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<<Warning>>
This photo contains graphic content and should be viewed at your discretion.
The lack of proper supplies to bandage the wound causes bleeding during the removal process. Nonadhesive gauze is not available in Bumala. |
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As luck would have it, a few days later Anouk met a medical team that was conducting a mission with the Baptist Church nearby. An even greater coincidence was that one of the nurses was a wound care specialist. We quote Anouk from one of her email communications with us:
"A few of them offered to come to the house of the little girl to look at the wound. They had the right material to help her. They were very kind and left extra supplies so I can keep changing the bandage and hopefully give her a chance to recover." (June 7, 2009)
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<<Warning>>
This photo contains graphic content and should be viewed at your discretion.
Anouk with nurse and doctor assessing Michelle’s wound.
The mat she is lying on is where she spent almost a month...all day long. |
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From then on, Anouk diligently changed Michelle's bandages every day, making sure the wound did not get infected. At first, this task was a challenge: changing a bandage on a straw mat, outdoors on the dirt ground, with black flies wanting to feed off the wound’s blood, and chickens that got a little too close for comfort. An unbelievable sight for anyone accustomed to the hyper-sterile standards of North America.
Over time, Anouk got to know Michelle and appreciate her admirable strength. Eight years old and without skin on her buttock and thigh, sleeping on a straw mat all day long in such conditions. This was a lot for a young child to take, but Michelle never cried...
To help with the healing, Anouk would bring a hard-boiled egg or some milk, as a protein diet is vital for tissue regeneration. Michelle always thanked her with a big smile for such a small offering. Michelle started to miss her school. Anouk would bring a book from the school library and Michelle would read to her. Usually softspoken, Michelle read her book out loud and with pride!
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Michelle with fresh bandaging.
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A few weeks later, Michelle surprised Anouk. Upon her arrival at the hut she saw Michelle up and about at the neighbours. She was in good spirits and wanted to go back to school. From the on, Anouk went to Michelle’s for 7:30a.m. every day, changed her bandages and took her school. It was as though Michelle hadn’t missed a beat, even though she could only sit on one side of her bum!
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Though heavy-hearted before her departure, Anouk was happy that Michelle was doing better. Almost 1.5 centimetres of new skin had developed around the edges of the wound. More importantly, there was no sign of infection. Perhaps a small miracle considering the conditions Michelle lives in. Before leaving the school, Anouk passed on her knowledge and remaining supplies to new volunteers, teaching them how to properly disinfect and bandage the wound for a more promising recovery.
Unfortunately, in the past week or so Michelle's bandage fell off during the night while sleeping. The wound became infected. It now appears under control and Michelle has an appointment booked with a surgeon at a hospital in Kisumu 2 hours away from her village. It has become increasingly apparent that a skin graft may be the only way Michelle's leg can heal properly and fully recover. Volunteers with basic medical training are no longer available. And with minimal sanitary conditions, the risk of re-infection is great. If Michelle is unable to fight off subsequent infections, it could lead to amputation. Of particular concern is the outcome of amputating so high up the thigh area.
All too often, small villages like Michelle's have very limited medical facilities. What started as a simple injection turned into a serious flesh wound. We have since learned that the cause of Michelle's wound was due to either of two things—that the medicine that was injected had expired or it had not been injected deep enough into the muscle. Regardless, it caused needless and preventable suffering for Michelle. |
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Michelle and Anouk on the last day Anouk changed her bandages.
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To date, Michelle's care has depended largely on donations from well wishers in her community and from caring volunteers. Although helpful, this approach does not provide the consistent help that Michelle needs to fully recover as quickly and safely as possible. One Child's Village is asking for your help.
Can you assist with Michelle's treatment by making a donation? Any amount would be greatly appreciated, however small. With these funds, One Child's Village will make sure that Michelle receives the medical attention that she needs. To donate online via credit card, simply click on the "Donate Now" button below. Once on our CanadaHelps.org donation platform, select the fund designation named "Michelle's Skin Graft".
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If you prefer, you can mail a cheque or money order made out to "One Child's Village" and indicate that it is for Michelle:
One Child's Village
Suite 3382, 11215 Jasper Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta
Canada T5K 0L5 |
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Although it is difficult to predict all costs for Michelle's medical needs at this time, our goal is to raise $1,715 for the following treatment and aftercare recommended by health professionals who are aware of Michelle's situation.
Treatment
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CAD
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Shillings
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- Skin graft surgery and anaesthesia
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$215 |
(15,000) |
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$390 |
(27,300) |
- Hospital fees for 21 days
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$200 |
(14,000) |
- Travel (Bumala—Kisumu hospital) for Michelle and grandmother
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$145 |
(10,150) |
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Post-surgery Care
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CAD
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Shillings
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- Visit to Busia hospital
(for check-up and bandage change)
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$75 |
(5,250) |
- Latex gloves
(for sterile environment)
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$15 |
(1,050) |
- Clean bedding at home
(for sterile environment)
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$30 |
(2,100) |
- Benzalkonium chloride antiseptic wipes
(for post-surgery disinfection)
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$15 |
(1,050) |
- Medicated non-adhesive dressing
(to cover the wound)
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$450 |
(31,500) |
- Adhesive gauze
(to cover the wound)
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$50 |
(3,500) |
- Antibiotics
(to prevent infection)
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$10 |
(700) |
- Vitamins, iron syrup
(to boost immune system and blood flow)
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$50 |
(3,500) |
- Bottled water and soap
(for cleaning)
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$20 |
(1,400) |
- Food
(to ensure protein diet for healing)
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$50 |
(3,500) |
Total |
$1,715 |
(120,000) |
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All proceeds will go directly to Michelle's medical treatment and recovery. Let's work together to make Michelle better. A young child should not have to worry about such things so early in life. We need to give her a chance to overcome her injury. She cannot heal on her own. We thank you in advance for supporting Michelle. We greatly appreciate it.
Whenever there are updates about Michelle's situation, we will post them on our webite's homepage.
Lastly, we wish to thank the medical team that assisted Michelle in her time of need, for donating the much needed supplies, and for permitting us to use their photo in the telling ofMichelle's story.
Respectfully,
Cristelle Audet
Co-managing Director
One Child's Village.org |
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