Rise up and walk

Many helping hands have come forward to give young Yamikani a better chance in life

By Mary Olenick
October 2005

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Yamikani Ziwa is a delightful 12-year-old boy who had both of his legs amputated below the knee when he was seven months old. His mother told me that he developed ulcers on his legs at that age and medical attention was far away and unaffordable, so when gangrene set in, both legs needed to be amputated.

He is the oldest of four children in his family—two boys and two girls. His father died some years ago. The children live with their mother in Mzimba District with the exception of Yamikani who lives at St. Magdalena Centre, a home for disabled children in Rumphi. He also attends a Catholic primary school about a five-minute walk from the Centre.

I have known “Yami” for almost six years. He has a great sense of humour and a twinkle in his eye, especially when he sees a window of opportunity to get into some mischief. He manages to move faster running around on his knees than I do on my two feet.

Yamikani with other young patients at CURE International Hospital in Blantyre, Malawi. Full of mischief, he and a few other boys raced wheelchairs through the halls each night while everyone slept.

In March 2005 the process was started to provide prostheses for Yamikani. He had slight contractures (tightening of the tissues around joints), which had to be dealt with first. Through the SOS Children’s Village in Lilongwe, a Canadian physiotherapist, Cathy Bowler, saw him and in consulting with a Norwegian prosthetist and orthotist, they decided to cast both legs to try to reduce the contractures. Being in casts was frustrating and boring for Yami, as he now had to rely on others to carry him around. He had the casts on for four weeks, but not enough improvement was shown so they were removed and arrangements were made for him to go to CURE International Hospital in Blantyre for surgery, physiotherapy and then hopefully prostheses.

Yamikani, his uncle Urgent Mbale, Fr. Jim McGuire (a Scarboro priest who would stay a couple of days in Blantyre) and I started off on this nearly 10-hour drive. In Malawi when people are admitted to hospital, they must have a guardian with them who stays at the hospital and looks after the patient’s non-medical needs. Urgent was to be that guardian for Yami.

The first day we traveled only as far as Lilongwe, as driving in the dark is not recommended. We stayed overnight at a guesthouse and started off bright and early the next morning. For the most part, the trip to Blantyre was enjoyable. We had taken a picnic lunch and pulled over on the roadside to eat. I noticed Yamikani was not his usual self and actually slept a good portion of the way.

About an hour before Blantyre, we had a tire blowout. Fr. Jim took charge and had the tire changed and us back on the road in less than 20 minutes.

We checked Yamikani and Urgent into CURE Hospital where they received a warm welcome. It was also discovered that day that Yamikani had malaria, which accounted for him not being his usual self on the trip. Surgery on his legs was postponed until he was free of malaria.

Soon after being fitted with prosthesis, Yamikani trys out his new legs using the parallel bars.

Cure Hospital is a wonderful hospital. Along with prayer time for the children, the hospital staff entertains them with Christian videos and other children’s videos. There are also a wide variety of toys for the young patients.

Yamikani, in a very short time while awaiting surgery, became an expert at handling the wheelchair. He and a couple of other boys terrorized the hallways racing the wheelchairs late at night while others were sleeping.

Finally the day came for Yamikani to have surgery. The surgeon cut the tendons in both legs to release the contractures and casted both legs. This slowed down his activities and he soon grew bored. One afternoon when the nurses were on their rounds giving injections to some of the patients, Yami thought he was going to be next so he took off in the wheelchair, ditched it along the way, pulled himself along on his belly and hid between the back of the hospital building. This created a little excitement but Urgent knew Yamikani and also knew where to find him.

The day came for the casts to come off, stitches to be removed, and physiotherapy started. One of his therapists was a Canadian, Naomi Rubin, from Nova Scotia who was working in Malawi. Yamikani was not the most cooperative patient during physiotherapy, but everyone persevered.

After two weeks of therapy it was decided to measure him for prostheses even though the contractures were still there. They would try and compensate for them in the prostheses. Soon after, Yamikani was up and trying out his legs using the parallel bars. A few days later Janet Kayira, the Rehabilitation Assistant, had him using a walker. He was progressing quite nicely so they decided to send him home to continue using the prostheses in the hope that bearing his body weight would stretch the tendons.

Home again

Six weeks after arriving in Blantyre, we were heading back to Rumphi. Yamikani will spend the remainder of the school year with his Uncle Urgent who will continue to support him and assist him to use the prostheses.

Urgent has since telephoned to say that after two months Yami is doing very well. He manages to walk approximately four metres without holding onto anything.

There has been a lot of assistance and support from various people pooling together their resources to help this young man. Through Laurie and Stephanie Dotto, a father and daughter team in Montreal, financial help for the cost of replacement prostheses will be made possible until Yamikani is fully grown, as well as financial help for his education. Stephanie is working hard on this project.

In the Gospel of John, the sick man told Jesus that he had no one to put him into the healing pool when the water is stirred up. In the case of Yamikani, he has many people who have come forward with care and kindness. May this story have a happy ending for this young man.

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