We have been working to help cleft children in Afghanistan since 2010. In the years since then, the country has seen dramatic events that have left their mark on our aid as well. Of the original four surgeons who offered patients in the country cleft lip and palate operations that we funded, two – including our only female surgeon – have since left the country. We are therefore all the more happy for every child in this desperately poor country we can help receive a cleft operation that is so important for their life chances. And the number of operations performed by our remaining surgeons in the country has been increasing again recently – a spark of hope for children with cleft lip and palate in the country, many of whom are still waiting for treatment.
Little Nawida was one of them: she was born in the summer of 2014 in the north of Afghanistan. The girl has both a cleft lip and a cleft palate. Her mother developed such severe psychological problems due to the reaction of the family’s environment to the child that she could no longer care for Nawida. Her grandmother stepped in. She gave the girl the name Nawida (good news).
Nawids’s grandmother supports her by raising goats and overcomes many difficulties, but since Nawida cannot be breastfed, she is malnourished and very weak and anemic when the family takes her to our project for cleft lip and palate patients in their region for the first time on July 12, 2015. In this condition, the pediatrician does not sign off on the operation, and the anesthesiologist also considers an operation too dangerous for the little girl in her physical state.
Our project team helps the family with nutritional supplements and medical advice. The family is supposed to come back in three months. But three months pass and the family does not come. Calls to the cell phone number they left do not go through. A very stressful situation for our team, who know that Nawida urgently needs treatment in order to develop well.
Against all obstacles: A happy end for Nawida!
Then a happy surprise: On a rainy day on March 23, 2016, Nawida shows up to the clinic with her father. Our project manager asks about the reason for the long delay. Nawida’s father tells him about the war and about the illness and injury of Nawida’s grandmother. Our surgeon is sad for Nawila’s grandmother, who did so much for her granddaughter. But he is happy for Nawida: she is in much better health now than she was a year ago. Now everything is ready for the operation. The operation plan is drawn up and, thank God, everything goes well. Nawida’s father’s is happy for his little girl.
After Nawida was brought to have her stitches removed, our project manager asked Nawida’s father to bring her in again six months later for her cleft palate surgery. But again Nawida is not there for the agreed appointment. Our project manager again tries contacting the family by phone. But it was the same as the first time: the calls do not go through.
Finally, unexpectedly, a very pleasant surprise: Nawida comes to the clinic with her father on October 27, 2023, seven years after her lip surgery. The father tells of the death of her grandmother and that the family had to flee to a distant village because of the war.
The cell phone only has reception in a part of the village that is at higher elevation, otherwise no one can reach the family. During the examination, it is discovered that Nawida has dental infections and a dental abscess. The first operation she receives is not for her cleft palate, but to drain the dental abscess and remove her decayed teeth.
Two weeks later, the father is supposed to bring his daughter in for cleft palate surgery, but it’s the same old story again: the appointment comes and goes, and they do not show up. But finally, everything ends well for Nawida: on June 4, 2024, she returns to the clinic. Our surgeon doesn’t even ask what caused the delay this time; the main thing is that she’s finally there. Fortunately, Nawida’s health is now good and her palate surgery is successful. A few days later, she is discharged from the hospital – to a better future.
