Faces of Hunger and Healing

From rounds today:

Kabajungu Margaret, the little girl who was dying of an intra-abdominal lymphoma last year, against all odds and through much struggle, cured.  Back for follow-up, shyly smiling, a reminder that sometimes it is worth taking a risk.

Mariam, discharged today:  she was admitted in early June shortly after her mother died of AIDS.  In spite of being HIV-free herself, and receiving gallons of UNICEF milk, she poked along with daily fevers and listless crying, until we realized that she was probably infected by TB.  After a few weeks of therapy her weight has increased by 50%, she’s smiling like a charmer, chubby-cheeked and home in the care of her grandmother to finish her six month course of tablets.

Biira:  It took five weeks to turn her around, and I had often said (in despair) that my life would be complete if I ever got her to smile.  She was an edematous lump, refusing to drink milk, never moving much, depressed and dwindling.  TB therapy also proved to be her turning point.  Monday she broke into a huge grin.  It was like witnessing the breath of life entering the clay of humanity.  She has come alive.

But others still have far to go, sipping their formula, clinging to their too-soon-pregnant teenage moms or their weary bereaved grandmothers.  I hope in another month the pictures at the bottom will be transformed like those first three.  Faith means living between the acknowledgment of our scabby hungry weakness and the promise of milk-rich health.  Hanging on between hunger and healing.