The “ghosts” among men

cleft baby before and after

 They live next door but you can’t see them. They live in our homes but no one hears them. Indeed you may think of them as silent, invisible, but they are present in our households, coiled in humiliation and fear.

Being an African child born with facial and oral malformations is like living a life under a death sentence. An unknown number of children born with cleft lips and cleft palates in Ghana continue to be denied the right to live by their parents and families who kill them all in the name of tradition and avoiding stigma.

The few survivors face multiple-discrimination and are more vulnerable than any other person in the society. Through no fault of theirs, they are often referred to as ghosts due to the nasal sound they produce when speaking. Their desires for a happy life has been tattered. They live in depression and do not feel good about themselves.

Miss Comfort, after giving birth to Kwame had to fight the stigma associated with cleft. She could not even take Kwame out of the house and she was asked several times to abandon her baby-worst of all to starve him to death.
 

comfort and her baby

Ever thought of how it would feel being rejected by people you first met on earth? How would you feel being ostracized from a land where your umbilical cord was buried? A land where the DNA of your ancestors can be traced!!!


This is the story of that boy who lives next door but hardly joins kids in the neighborhood to play.
An unfair society compelled 60-year old Afi to relocate to the outskirt of the town with her children because of her cleft condition.

Cleft lip and cleft palate are facial and oral malformations that occur very early in pregnancy, while the baby is developing inside the mother's womb. Clefting results when there is not enough tissue in the mouth or lip area, and the tissue that is available does not join together properly.

According to researchers, between 300 and 400 babies are born with this deformity annually in Ghana and intuitive reports suggest a substantial amount of this number are killed by their families.

The Director of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Dept at the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra, Dr Opoku Ware Ampomah, said one in 1000 births in Ghana was detected with the cleft defect, and that the challenge facing the country was the lack of medical capacity to deal with the problem.

Parents who spoke to citifmonline say in rural Ghana, society encourages them to poison children having cleft condition, saying such babies are curses. Parents who chose to defy the norms had to hide their children indoors or probably relocate to where no one can trace them.

Most of these children do not get a chance to be formally educated and this reduces their chances of gaining meaningful employment and to be self-informed about human rights and health issues to live descent lives.

One of such children who have grown the life of shame is Mohamed. Mohamed has a wife and two children but it was impossible for him to find a job; mainly because of his cleft condition. He told citifmonline he has been turned down multiple times to the point that he could not afford to provide for the needs of his family. He said the threat of violence is still real and that, as a person having cleft condition, "society doesn't see you as a human being."

Mohammed

What saddens me most is that, those who matter just turn a blind eye towards the many atrocities in Ghana and Africa as a whole. The “humans” just choose to ignore the “ghosts” even in the midst of the snarling barks and the drooling mouths of these aggressive “dogs”.

Nevertheless the ravening clouds shall not be long victorious. Indeed they shall not long possess the sky because there are still few “cats” among the “dogs” who are ready to stick out their licking tongues of love and care.

They are ready to endure the sleepless nights recruiting these people for a 45mins surgery that can put smiles on their faces forever.

Sabrina Ghiddi, Operation Smile Ghana & Regional Manager for Western and Southern Africa told Citifmonline their biggest joy is “to change lives one smile at a time”.

Sabrina with kids

Through a Unibank USD 36,000.00 support Operations Smile Ghana has been able to successfully perform free corrective surgical operations for 154 patients drawn from all parts of Ghana.

Operations Smile Ghana was established six years ago with the task of addressing challenges associated with cleft lip and palate. Since its inception, about 781 patients have been treated. It also provides treatment support for patients, through increased advocacy.

A member of the National Media Commission, Dr Doris Yaa Dartey, who is a volunteer of the Operation Smile campaign, believes it was necessary for society to acknowledge that there was a remedy for cleft and dismiss all forms of stigmatization against affected people. And I can’t agree more to her call. Yes the persecution and stigmatization must stop!!!

Our brothers and sisters have been hiding and been hidden for long. It is high time we extended our helping hands and infectious smiles to persons with cleft.  You have the power to reincarnate the “ghosts”.