19th Mar 2024 1:20:02 PM

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Ado Balombo Bambula
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Agnes Wabiwa



Agnes Wabiwa, a Congolese burns survivor, aged 10 months in early February 2012, just before she went in for her first two operations at Shriners Hospital in Boston, USA.



Agnes' first two operations at the Shriners Hospital were to insert a tracheostomy and also a G-line.
A tracheostomy is done to bypass an obstructed upper airway or to clean and remove secretions from the airway or as in this case, to more easily and more safely, deliver oxygen to the lungs.
This is essential to allow Agnes to breathe properly in future procedures.
Agnes no longer has a nose, just two small former-nostrils. Her mouth-opening is also restricted.
The G-line is to allow her to get the extra nutrition that she so urgently needs. Agnes is severely underweight for her age.



Getting a free airfare for anyone these recessionary days is almost impossible.
But the staff on board the airlines did their very best to make Baby Agnes comfortable as she flew from Africa to America in February 2012.
Only a small reduction in the cost of flights was achieved from KLM but its partner Delta kindly provided a day room in an Amsterdam hotel for both Mitta and the infant to briefly recover before their onward flight to Boston.
The airline also gave the infant a blanket. The speed of embroidering a snug public relations item was impressive!
Thanks to the American Consul in Kigali whose conversations with the Dutch Embassy may have helped matters.



Megan Meets Agnes and Mitta meets the press
Logan International Airport, February 6, 2012



Baby Agnes with new bandages in the arms of a loving nurse
Boston Shriners, February 6, 2012



Mitta emerges from the airport bathroom having dressed Agnes in some warmer clothes, followed by Rodrigue



Movement keeps Baby Agnes calm after a long journey across the world



Mitta and Megan, two of Agnes' guardians, meet for the first time







Mitta cradling baby Agnes post-surgery



International documentary producer Junius Hughes has known Children of Fire since 2006 and is now one of Agnes' guardians for her time in the USA.



Mitta holding baby Agnes, at Shriners Hospital in Boston.



Baby Agnes seems more wires and tubes than baby!
Everything to feed her, give her air, monitor all her vital signs.



Agnes arrived in America to be surrounded with love, toys and the best-possible medical care

This material is Copyright © The Dorah Mokoena Charitable Trust and/or Children of Fire , 1998-2024.
Distribution or re-transmission of this material, excluding the Schools' Guide, is expressly forbidden without prior permission of the Trust.
For further information, email firechildren@icon.co.za