By Teri Ballard (Volunteer Nurse with Mending Faces)
Today started with a waiting area full of wonderful Dominican children and their parents. I noticed one mother who was sitting quietly in the corner. She had a shy smile as she looked up at me. Her child was the nearly the same image of her. Not in the color of her eyes or the color of her hair but her child bore the same deformity she herself suffered from. She had an abnormally large forehead her eyes are widely set apart her palette is malformed. I knew the Mending Faces Missioners could help! I suspect her child will still have a hard time in her life, but I also had a feeling that she would do better than most in with this deformity because she had a mother who loves her so much she found a way to get help. I knew we couldn’t make her eyes set differently or her forehead smaller but we can help her child be able to swallow her food well so she can be well nourished and make her speech clear. I saw the child in the operating room as she sat still and cooperative, waiting for her anesthesia team to give her anesthesia. Instead of fear, I saw in her eyes and understanding that this was all being done to help her. I know that her mother, having gone through the same experience, had prepared her well. After surgery she was incredibly tough. I think for her having a mother who suffered with the same condition and preparing her made this process of repair easier. I am so glad that I am a part of this incredible group of humanitarians that help this child and so many others!
