Mawarni hopes to be pretty after surgery
Mawarni hopes to be pretty after surgery
Betsy Taylor, Associated Press/St. Louis, Missouri
An 8-year-old Indonesian girl who was brought to the United
States by earthquake relief workers to correct her birth defect
has a new look - but her same old cheerful disposition.
On Thursday, Mawarni Zega prepared to be released from St.
Louis Children's Hospital, eight days after surgery to remove a
large bulge from between her eyes. She still has splints on her
nose and shaved hair from her operation, but was optimistic that
"maybe in the future, I will be very pretty."
Her interpreter, 18-year-old Elwin Zebua, strummed a guitar in
her hospital room as the child's relieved mother, Adilia Zega,
sat next to Mawarni's bed, lined with stuffed animals from well-
wishers.
"She says she can give a big sigh now," Zebua said of the
child's 35-year-old mother. "She doesn't have the words to say
how grateful, how thankful she is."
The three will remain in the United States, possibly into
July, to allow doctors to monitor Mawarni's progress.
Pediatric neurosurgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Leonard, said Mawarni's
splints come off in three weeks, and an examination will be done
to ensure there are no complications from the surgery. She also
needs to have a kidney stone removed.
In March, an earthquake that shook Nias Island, located off
the western coast of Indonesia's main island of Sumatra,
partially destroyed the Zegas' house. The quake, while killed
about 900 people and left thousands of others injured and
homeless, came three months after the Dec. 26 tsunami that left
at least 175,000 dead in 11 Indian Ocean countries.
Relief workers arrived to help victims of the natural
disaster, but Mawarni's mother approached the doctors about
helping her daughter.
Mawarni had an encephalocele, a birth defect caused when a gap
in the skull allows brain membrane to protrude, creating an
unsightly facial bulge. Dangerous complications such as
meningitis can occur if the condition is untreated. Workers
decided to help the child.
The Healing the Children and Project Hope agencies, the Navy
and the U.S. and Indonesian governments worked together to bring
Mawarni to St. Louis Children's hospital, where staff volunteered
their time and skills.
The daughter of a rubber tree farmer, Mawarni is the youngest
of 10 children from the village of Hilisebua, in the subdistrict
of Gido. The Zegas do not have a clear sense of how rebuilding
efforts are progressing back at home. Their interpreter said they
have not had luck making phone calls to their village.
The child's doctor said treating Mawarni has been a rewarding
experience, and his hope is that all the attention to her case
will help spark efforts allowing dozens of other children to get
medical care they could not otherwise receive.
"My hope would be that the 50th child we treat would get the
same interest," Leonard said.