An eye for Sidi
Sidi is a young Kenian woman (nobody knows exactly what age she is, but it must be early twenties) whose face was burnt to the bone when she fell into an open fire while
having an epileptic fit. She lay in a rural hospital with nothing being done
for 18 months, maggots kept her face clean. The hospital used to wheel her
out in a wheelbarrow and hose her down. No one wanted to touch her. Sidi's
mother was banned from the hospital because she was asking for help when
they could give none. This all happened some years ago.
Tracy - an English woman who has grown up in Kenya and now lives in England - met Sidi in a terrible state when she visited the area. From her letter to Moments of Joy: "Surgeons in Kenya had stitched her arm to her face to graft skin and flesh on. They had given her a nose that was massive with no visible nostrils; she breathed through the mouth. They had
made her a top lip that was as big as a fist. She had only one eye left and stank of death. I knew that she was being stoned and bound with rope when she fitted."
Tracy took Sidi to England and has sought medical care there. Sidi stayed with Tracy's family and had around fifteen operations in twelve months. The lips and nose look better, she was put on regular medication for her epilepsy and - most important - has found some relief from her terrible ordeal, which severely traumatised her and made her try to commit suicide in the past.
Tracy and her husband did not succeed in finding financial help in their struggle to give Sidi the medical help she needed and paid for everything themselves. Since they are not well off, this was a considerable strain on the family's household budget. Tracy finally despaired when it turned out that the prosthetic eye would not cost 265 pounds, but almost double that since there was no eyesocket and so this had to be made first.
"There is a lot of work involved, they first have to make a wax mould with and eyelid that
matches the other. This is then made into a sort of plastic which will
eventually be coloured to match her skin. It is a long process and we have
travelled to London 4 times so far. I am not able to afford the prosthetic eye and have totally exhausted all my funds. Many people said they would help but no help has come forward yet. I am in a pickle to say the least, this project has been too big for me alone and I am so close to finishing but still so far."
Tracy was in a hurry too, because Sidi had to leave the country by May 6th 2003, when her visa ran out. Moments of Joy paid for the new eye and eye socket and Sidi went home the 6th to convalesce.
TOTAL € 530,--
This project was adopted by Mrs. H.A. Jonkman. She donated part of the compensation she received from "het Gebaar" ( a financial gesture from the Dutch government, given to Dutch 2nd World War victims who returned from Indonesia) to this project.
Sidi is a young Kenian woman (nobody knows exactly what age she is, but it must be early twenties) whose face was burnt to the bone when she fell into an open fire while
having an epileptic fit. She lay in a rural hospital with nothing being done
for 18 months, maggots kept her face clean. The hospital used to wheel her
out in a wheelbarrow and hose her down. No one wanted to touch her. Sidi's
mother was banned from the hospital because she was asking for help when
they could give none. This all happened some years ago.
Tracy - an English woman who has grown up in Kenya and now lives in England - met Sidi in a terrible state when she visited the area. From her letter to Moments of Joy: "Surgeons in Kenya had stitched her arm to her face to graft skin and flesh on. They had given her a nose that was massive with no visible nostrils; she breathed through the mouth. They had
made her a top lip that was as big as a fist. She had only one eye left and stank of death. I knew that she was being stoned and bound with rope when she fitted."
Tracy took Sidi to England and has sought medical care there. Sidi stayed with Tracy's family and had around fifteen operations in twelve months. The lips and nose look better, she was put on regular medication for her epilepsy and - most important - has found some relief from her terrible ordeal, which severely traumatised her and made her try to commit suicide in the past.
Tracy and her husband did not succeed in finding financial help in their struggle to give Sidi the medical help she needed and paid for everything themselves. Since they are not well off, this was a considerable strain on the family's household budget. Tracy finally despaired when it turned out that the prosthetic eye would not cost 265 pounds, but almost double that since there was no eyesocket and so this had to be made first.
"There is a lot of work involved, they first have to make a wax mould with and eyelid that
matches the other. This is then made into a sort of plastic which will
eventually be coloured to match her skin. It is a long process and we have
travelled to London 4 times so far. I am not able to afford the prosthetic eye and have totally exhausted all my funds. Many people said they would help but no help has come forward yet. I am in a pickle to say the least, this project has been too big for me alone and I am so close to finishing but still so far."
Tracy was in a hurry too, because Sidi had to leave the country by May 6th 2003, when her visa ran out. Moments of Joy paid for the new eye and eye socket and Sidi went home the 6th to convalesce.
TOTAL € 530,--
This project was adopted by Mrs. H.A. Jonkman. She donated part of the compensation she received from "het Gebaar" ( a financial gesture from the Dutch government, given to Dutch 2nd World War victims who returned from Indonesia) to this project.
© Moments of Joy All rights reserved - info@moments-of-joy.org - 
+31 70 3241997 - IBAN: NL72 TRIO 0784 9315 69
+31 70 3241997 - IBAN: NL72 TRIO 0784 9315 69