Good byes from the hospital today

Bye bye Rafiki....

Abisia - she looks amazing and so happy

I am trying to find out the story behind those shirts

Update: Palou (the local surgeon) got all the guys shirts and all the girls sarongs - so lovely of him!! The team all went to the hospital and had a goodbye celebration with the staff. Jamie bought a big black Forrest cake from the bakery to say thank you. 

The team gave all the nurses hats which were supplied by social outreach at Saint John of god in Subiaco - they really appreciated them.

I asked about high's and lows - the response was "I think we probably all agree that the entire trip was a high, the team all gelled so well together and we achieved so many amazing things. The biggest low is leaving and saying goodbye to all of the beautiful kids and adults that were operated on along with all of their families and the staff." 

Adonia - a different little girl and smiling - that photo just fills my heart with joy!

We are going to try and share some stories from the final few days of the mission together with some stats so watch this space...... There are also some kids that could not be helped on this mission so we are looking at options for them; I hope to share the stories; including Rashid who brightened every day I was there - he has that huge tumour on his bottom.

In the meantime you might like to read about the wonderful story of four children with cleft lips in one family on the Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rafikisurgicalmissions - the original three sisters feature in the 10 year video made by the wonderful Myriad Images; they provide so much support to Rafiki 

https://vimeo.com/67039602

 

You can help Rafiki by simply liking our Facebook page; donors really value the number of followers we have when deciding whether or not to donate. Or if you have something you would like to donate for auction at our fundraising ball on 14th June please email me at cbellamymobile@gmail.com - I am afraid the ball has sold out this year.

You can also find out more about the missions at http://asanterafiki.com and if you would like to donate click on the sponsors page for the link. Every little helps - on average each operation only costs $625 as there are no admin costs and the team are all volunteers.

Talking to my safari guide; when I showed him some pictures he said kids with cleft lips get called rabbit face and the locals are scared of them - he was very happy we could help them though so he remains my rafiki (friend).