MY VISIT WITH EDOH - A LIFE RESTORED! KPALIME, TOGO

1) Edoh in 1995 with a Mercy Ships nurse

2) Edoh in 2010 my visit to her village in Kpalime

3) Edoh's family at the base of the waterfall (me far left)

4) Edoh's family at their home

5) Interviewing Edoh & her mom

6) Edoh & mom after making Fufu for lunch

7) Edoh sitting during the interview

8) (L-R) Our translator, writer, Edoh, Me

9) Pounding casava to make Fufu

10) Lunch is served-Fufu & chicken

11-12) Edoh & family pick fresh fruit as a gift

13-14) Druming & dancing at the base of the waterfall

15) Very happy Edoh next to the waterfall

Hopping into the Land Rover, a four wheeler I love to drive, our communications team of 4 headed upcountry, 3 hrs north west from the port of Lome'. We drove through the grasslands and up into the hill country region of Kpalime, to visit one of our patients whom had surgery on the ship in 1995. Dodging huge potholes on both paved and gravel roads, stopping a few times along the way asking for directions, we found Edoh's home set on the edge of the dusty road at the base of a small mountain range where a beautiful cascading waterfall billowed down the mountain side.  

 A shy, young woman walked towards us, carrying a colorful bouquet of tropical flowers, a welcoming gift from the family.  Thirty family members joined her and we were ushered under the shade of a huge mango tree that stood in the centre of their small piece of land that housed a grass hut and open fire pit.

Edoh is the youngest of six children. When she was about four years old, her eye began to swell. Her mother, Afua, desperately tried to find help, going from hospital to hospital in Togo and Ghana. But no one could help her little girl.  By the time Edoh was nine, a massive facial tumor had displaced her left eye, distorted her cheek and mouth, and left her teeth protruding at odd angles from the edges of the mass. She struggled to eat and breathe. The tumor was literally stealing the breath of life from her - she was slowly suffocating.

In 1995, Afua heard Mercy Ships' had arrived in her country to offer free medical care, so she took Edoh to the medical pre screening day.  A huge crowd of approximately six thousand crushed into the stadium in Togo, almost tearing off the gate.   Most of the people were desperate for help and had been living lives of painful shame and rejection because of their abnormalities -viewed in some cases as a curse in their culture. Unable to work, or even live in society, they saw Mercy Ships as their only chance to have a normal life. They wanted a chance for a free surgery, the chance for a miracle.

But in the midst of all that suffering and desperate longing, a little girl's gasping struggle to breathe captured the attention of the crowd. Arms of compassion - some weak and some strong - lifted Edoh and passed her to the front of the long line.

Edoh remembers that moment - the moment that changed her life forever. She recalls, "I remember being lifted over the heads of the crowd and being passed along to the gate. A nurse saw me and said, 'This is the type of surgery we need to do.'"  And that day Edoh received an appointment card for surgery ... an appointment to receive life instead of death.

The doctors warned Afua that this was a difficult, risky case. But she wisely replied, "God gives children; God can take away. We will give it all to God and go ahead with the surgery." And her faith was rewarded. Edoh returned home to a very surprised community. "It's a miracle!" they exclaimed. And they held a big party to celebrate.

A year later, a maxillofacial surgeon, who had helped to remove the tumor, took Edoh to Germany for a second surgery on her lip. Then in 2003, she had another surgery on her lower eyelid.

And now, 15 years after her first surgery, this "walking miracle" was welcoming our team to her village.

Edoh happily described the transformation in her life. She recalled how she used to stay away from people. She couldn't go to school. She became very shy, hiding in her home. But now she can go everywhere - including school.  Edoh is a good student her mother explains.  After she completes her secondary education, Edoh wants to become a nurse to help others - just like the Mercy Ships nurses helped her she said.

What a blessed and rare opportunity to visit Edoh so many years later.  To witness the gift of a transformed life restored in this special child and to experience the fruit of our labour in this ministry.

As we brought our conversation to a closure, Edoh and her sisters pounded and pulped the locally grown casava into a traditional dish called fufu which was served alongside freshly stewed chicken in a spicy broth prepared for our lunch.

Not only did they prepare a lunch that probably cost them a months wages, but they hand picked and arranged a huge fruit basket of locally grown bananas, mangoes, avocadoes and pineapples as another gift of thanks for saving their daughters life.

The celebration arranged by the family continued at the "cascade," the waterfall that roars down the mountain behind Edoh's home.  Her brothers played the local drums, and everyone sang praises to God for His mercy toward Edoh. 

A smiling Edoh added, " If it wasn't for the Mercy Ship, maybe I would be dead. Mercy Ships changed that. I used to look in the mirror and feel pity for myself. But now I think about what happened to me, and it's all about God. I put everything in God's hands."