“PLEASE, GIVE ME JOY…”Burn victim Joy pleads..
Burn Victim, Joy Wundengba, 14, Pleads for support...
That November evening at Karaga village, Duna town, the sun began to travel west to set; benighted wondering birds took their last flights in the sky to rest inside their nests. The sky was near empty. Darkness hovered Joy’s simple village home she shares with her mother and grandparents. Her grandma reminded her of evening domestic chores, those hours: one of which was to light the Lantern, as nightfall embraced their home. She fetched the lantern and grabbed a matchbox, took a stick from it, struck the side of the box, to produce a yellow flame before she approached the lantern to light it.
The flame from matchstick made contact with a single wool inside the lantern and a powerful explosion boomerang the neighborhood. The explosion threw young Joy to the floor, set her and her clothing on fire: her face and other body skins burned helplessly. Her screams attracted her family to the scene. They rushed towards her as she cried in pain. The flames from the explosion were torching her beautiful dear dark face and body, fast and furious… She was rushed to the local clinic in the area.
Inside the clinic, health care workers noticed that the heat from the explosion glued her burnt clothes to her burnt skins. The clinic had neither Burns Center nor Doctors experienced in Burns and Reconstructive surgeries. The clinic's first objective was to save her life. So the healthcare staff painstakingly and painfully peeled off burnt clothes from her charred body. Hmmmmm. Those moments, she lived in horrific pain. Anesthesiologists are a few in Ghana’s rural clinics. This 14-year-old girl had to endure the grotesque and repulsive pains.
She just wanted to light the damn lantern.
Electricity in rural Northern region is light years from a brighter future, just like affordable and structured health care system. Emergency Medical Services do not exist. Only God knew how Joy tolerated the harsh pains of being burnt alive, survived to tell her story; protruding and folded scars dotted her slim body, like multiple layers of mountain peaks, threatened by a volcano. Her extensive burns injuries were initially treated at a nearby village clinic without the benefit of any surgeon or burn center. The results of her treatments are terrible contracture which left her unable to close her mouth.
Joy Wundengba was born 14 years ago: October 31, 2004, in Ghana. She lost her father before she was born. She and her mother lived with her maternal grandparents in Tamale. After the retirement of her grandfather, the entire family: Joy, her mother, and grandparents returned to settle in Karaga village,Duna. Karaga is a farming and traditional town, a 20 minutes drive from Duna. Karaga, is my birth land!.
A kerosene explosion charred her charm. Her life changed that late evening. Her mother died after a severe illness, four months before the explosion: she left her daughter to be cared for by aging and retired grandparents. They continue to do their best in nursing Joy’s wounds and protecting her, silently, sometimes, consumed by the guilt of that evening.
Her scars are visible and traumatic. Her face is impacted by the grave burns: the obtrusive scars have painfully emblazoned half of her left side. She walks alone, lonely, traumatized and stigmatized by the sad effects of adulterated kerosene burns, to her beautiful face and 14-year-old body.
On a recent visit to Tamale, the capital city of Northern region, for lunch with us, Joy did not feel comfortable sitting at the same table for her meal. We had to encourage her, especially her biggest supporter, Mrs. Stella ,a worker at the restaurant, to protect Joy's dignity and respect her privacy, appealed to the canteen owners to allow her to eat inside their office. Since the accident, she has chosen a reclusive life, a life forced by an explosion. Each outing, she bundles up to cover the scars and her mouth with layers of thick blankets and a scarf, wears dark glasses so villagers would not recognize her or asked her questions. Every question answered is a reminder of that day in November. Joy needs to be Joyful again…
She is ashamed of her joy. Anxiety from the explosion is affecting her psychologically.
Can you feel her pain?. She smelt her skins as they roasted from the blazing fire. The horrible scars are everyday reminders of that evening in November, inside the belly of my dear native land, Duna
We can give her Joy back. It takes a village to raise a child.
We are her village and she is our child. Joy shall require Ghc20,000 ($4000) for corrective surgeries. I have located a Reconstructive Surgeon in Accra -Kolebu Teaching Hospital,Her grandmother can’t afford such an amount. Her grandfather is battling stroke: Hence this appeal. Joy cries for help and care. My people look at these pictures. She is our daughter. She doesn’t have to live in isolation or recluse. She is not a hermit. She is an amazing daughter of beautiful people, village and country. It is us that must lift her up and give her reasons to be charming, again. She needs to enjoy the excitement and intrigues of unique teenaged year passages without stigmatization. Joy is a normal teenager that should live a normal life. Your donations can help make the surgeries happen.
Also, our wish, is to provide her with therapy that would restore her confidence and treat the fear of her past, stabilize her grandpa who had been the sole provider and her biggest supporter until stroke struck him, assist her grandmother with financial aid and continuous outpatient treatment, after surgeries, for joy: visits to the doctor and medication payment. Please, we need you now to help in this fund drive to help pay for her facial and other body parts' reconstructive surgeries. Donate Now to this special account.. Thanks for sharing this post and encouraging donations. No amount is too small.
Appreciations for donating thus:
Donation can be made via:
Paypal by selecting the paypal option..
You can also make your donation via MTN Mobile money number 0543454304
Lets all help put some smiles on Joy's face...
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