January 2007

Manasebew

Unfortunatley not all our stories have a happy ending. Whilst out with Sister looking at the possibility of getting a house built for a blind man, as on so many occasions Sister was suddenly dragged off to another house by a very concerned and troubled woman.

Following on after Sister we soon found ourselves inside one of the many old style dark and somewhat claustrophobic houses. After a while our eyes adjusted to find the normal sparse surroundings with a few pots and pans and a couple of tired blankets. Except the tired blankets had two very big and sad eyes looking straight at us. This turned out to be Manasebew, a young girl.

Manasebew’s mother Tihun told us she was eleven years old and for several months now her health had deteriorated to the point she was now a bag of bones unable to move due to severe pain. Her mother explained that she was no longer eating and going to the toilet made her scream, as the pain was so severe. Tihun was unable to pay for any medical treatment for her daughter.

We agreed that the next day we would take Manasebew to the local clinic for tests and then decide further action. Walking the two miles to the clinic we could see Manasebew strapped to her mother’s back, her face grimacing with the pain as every step on the uneven road sent shock waves through her frail body.

At this point you need to imagine an Ethiopian clinic (basic) but the treatment Manasebew received, two blood tests and a stool test, was very quick and efficient with the analysed results within the hour. Severe intestinal infection and worms was the prognosis. The prescribed cure was a heavy dose of antibiotics intravenously twice a day and painkillers. Total cost £1.00 for the test and £3.50 for the medication.

Over the next week we returned on several occasions to see Manasebew. Although small we could see some improvement as the drugs kicked in and with the funding for extra food we could only see a slow but steady recovery. On one visit we took along one of your donated teddy bears, this was greeted by the biggest of smiles. We left Bahir Dar with great hope for Manasebew.

However, since returning home Sister has informed us that Manasebew gave up her struggle and sadly passed away on 8 February.