There is an imaginary line that goes down the middle of Delamou’s face. It is the line between his “good side” and his “bad side,” between beauty and stigma. On the right is a sweet seven-year-old-boy-smile, and on the left is an area of tissue between his eye, nose...
Four years ago, a little girl named Jaka was spinning around in circles with some other children while her mother was at the market. Around and around, arms out, chin up, her face full of smiles. Tragically, when Jaka lost her balance, she plummeted into her aunt’s...
Cyrus was 18 months old and suffered from a cystic hygroma. When local medical people said they could do nothing for Cyrus, his parents travelled to a Mercy Ships screening to see if they could remove the tumour protruding from the infant’s neck. “When I first saw the...
Awa has lived with her cleft lip for over forty years. Many people could not see past her disfigured mouth, to see the loving wife, mother, and daughter who thrives on making others smile. With no means to pay for an operation, Awa had accepted living with her...
At sixteen, Akissi was so excited as she went into labour with her first child. Excitement led to devastation as she struggled for several days and eventually her baby died. Akissi discovered that she now had loss of bladder control and the prospect of not being able...
Aicha was burned in a house fire. Flames had licked the sides of her face, the backs of her arms, her thighs, shoulders, wrists, neck, and hips. Her right ear was missing. Because she went without proper wound treatment, the skin on her elbows, arms, and sides...