Oli Tichackova and her testimony about Noma, from Menagesha rehabilitation Center
After coming to Menagesha Cheshire, it was the first time I ever heard of Noma disease. Between children with poliomyelitis, we had also one girl with these disability. All the time she covered her face by scarf. When the other children ate together in the dining room, she was around the corner and tried to eat her food. I felt sorry about her.
But one day, when I came back after weekend to the center, I was very surprised. In the two big gym, there were beds and around on the grass there were sitting and standing approximately 40 new „Noma patiens“
Most people in the world and indeed many in the medical field, have never heard of Noma. Noma is a dreadfully disfiguring and gangrenous poverty – related condition, which eats away the face with terrifying rapidity. It generally starts in the gums of children between 1-6 years old. It is caused by a curable bacterial infection mainly aggravated by severe malnutrition and with antibiotics it can be cured in five days .
BBC shots from Ethiopia - NOMA patients
However, in the remote rural areas where the victimes are from, existence is a daily struggle for survival, and health care can be two or three days journey on foot.
NOMA - the face of poverty
Although prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa, it is a little-known disease because 90% of the victims do not survive. Those that do often have the most dreadful disfigurement of lips, gums, nose, jaw or cheeks.
In a land where any deformity still tends to be seen as a curse, it is not hard to imagine the total sense of isolation that the Noma victims feel and the ostracism they face. Facing Africa, a UK-based charity dealing exclusively with Noma victims is now using Cheshire home Menagesha premises for the pre- and postoperative care of Noma patiens. An international team of plastic surgeons, orthodontists, anaethetists and nurses came for two weeks and did the often, lengthy and very complex surgery assisted by national staff.
Doctor Debie from the team Facing Africa told us, that some patients try to stop the gangrenous process by acid. So that after these surgeons for example don`t do the simple reconstruction of the nose, but they need to build it completely new.
Where are the borders of cruelty, the nature can also create?
At the first look you can think , the pictures are modified. Unfortunatelly, it is not a joke. I would like to show more people what I saw and tried on my own.
Do not close your eyes before ugliness. Come and look closer. In spite of that disability those people can also smile and wish you good day. Think about your life every where you are and try a little bit to change it. It is not necessary to help only in Africa. Even in your vicinity, there are people who needs You!
Noma (cancrum oris) is an acute and ravaging gangrenous infection affecting the face. The victims of Noma are mainly children under the age of 6, caught in a vicious circle of extreme poverty and chronic malnutrition.
Noma begins with ulcers in the mouth. If the condition is detected in the early stage, progression can be prevented with the use of mild antibiotics and immediate nutritional rehabilitation. If left untreated, as happens in most cases, the ulcers progress to Noma at an alarming pace. The next stage is extremely painful when the cheeks or lips begin to swell and the victim's general condition deteriorates. Within a few days, the swelling increases and a blackish furrow appears and the gangrenous process sets in and, after the scab falls away and a gaping hole is left in the face. It is estimated that the mortality rate reaches up to an alarming 90%.
If you want to know more about problems of Noma patients, click on this leaflet Facing Africa. There, you’ll find more detailed informations about this disease and its consequences.
Pojďte společně, díky jejím zážitkům, navštívit centrum pro děti, které by to ve své životní situaci neměly jednoduché nikde na světě a jejichž první krůčky v ACC jsou extrémně těžkým startem do jejich života...
Zkusme těmto dětem otevřít svoje srdce a nechat se pohladit jejich malými ručkami po naší duši...
