Meet Hawa (Patient Story)

Hawa is a seven year old girl from Sierra Leone. I meet Hawa and her father the first week I was in Liberia, at Mama Victoria's orpanage church. She was already scheduled to have surgery, and we drove them back to the ship that day. They had traveled for two days by taxi, to hopefully get a surgery that was impossible to recieve in Sierra Leone. Hawa was begining to struggle to breath since the tumor was so big and eating was difficult, she would have to tilt her head back and push the food between the tumor and her lower lip. Her surgery only took 3 hours and she was sent to the Ward to recover. While on the Ward my girldfriend, Jen, was her nurse, and brought her back to health. She is now back home enjoying a new life free of ridicule, and teasing.