June 22, 2019 – Long ride in the car, Sister E and Noma
Today Peter’s mom, Peter, my mistress and I went to Kaiserslautern where we would meet more family. This happens when you were gone for a couple of years - you meet again with relatives. I love looking out of the window while we are driving. This time I had to be in front of the passenger seat and to look out of the front window I had to sit on my master's lap (see picture).
On the way to Kaiserslautern we picked up E., a cousin of Peter’s mom. She is a very nice person and I like her a lot. Well, she must be a very kind person after all she did. Sister E is a nun and she spent 40 years in Ghana/Africa where she helped to build two hospitals in Accra and Bator for the people that live there. Sister E is a medical doctor and she worked very hard to accomplish all that. She trained doctors and medical staff so they can work independently. Also she taught people hygienic rules and showed how to eat healthy, even in poverty.
Sister E and her team fought against Noma. In case you haven’t hear about Noma: “Noma (cancrum oris) is an acute and ravaging gangrenous infection affecting the face. The victims of Noma are mainly children under the age of 6, caught in a vicious circle of extreme poverty and chronic malnutrition who suffer unimaginable pain, discomfort and social exclusion from their communities. Noma is an opportunistic infection that begins with ulcers in the mouth that is promoted by extreme poverty. If the condition is detected in the early stage, progression can be prevented with the use of mild antibiotics and immediate nutritional rehabilitation. If left untreated, as happens in most cases, the ulcers progress to Noma at an alarming pace. The next stage is extremely painful when the cheeks or lips begin to swell and the victim’s general condition deteriorates. Within a few days, the swelling increases and a blackish furrow appears and the gangrenous process sets in and, after the scab falls away and a gaping hole is left in the face. It is estimated that the mortality rate reaches up to an alarming 90%.
” (Source: http://www.facingafrica.org/what-is-noma/)
Some of the children with Noma had to have surgery. Sister E contacted Peter’s mom to find a solution for the children. Peter’s mom talked to some of her friends and one of them knew Dr. Gottfried Lemperle. Dr. Lemperle was in contact with Interplast and he founded Interplast Germany.
Bringing the children to Germany for surgery cost a lot of money because most of them needed more than one surgery so they stayed a couple of months. Interplast (https://www.interplast-germany.de/) took care of the costs and Prof. Dr. Lemperle did the surgery without charging for it.
Between surgeries the children stayed with my master’s family. I don’t know if I told you that my master and my mistress were a couple back then – but this is another story. What I try to tell you is my master and my mistress both experienced having these children in Germany. The children were very quick learners and after a few weeks they spoke German. It was an experience for my master and he liked it very much.
A couple of years later my master went to Ghana for a few weeks to help repairing some medical machines.
Sister E took care of all these children and others and she did a lot for the people in Ghana. Some years ago she came back to Germany where she lives in a convent.
After we picked her up we went to Kaiserslautern to meet more cousins. We went to a Chinese Restaurant (https://www.gourmetpalast-kl.de/) and it smelled very, very good. Everybody working there was very, very friendly. Unfortunately I did not get any food there, as usual. Later we went to the house of one of the cousins. Some of the cousins didn’t even realize I was in the restaurant.
On the way back home we got stuck in a traffic jam for about an hour and when we finally arrived home I was so tired. My master wanted to take me for a walk but luckily for me it rained and so we only took a short walk.
On the way to Kaiserslautern we picked up E., a cousin of Peter’s mom. She is a very nice person and I like her a lot. Well, she must be a very kind person after all she did. Sister E is a nun and she spent 40 years in Ghana/Africa where she helped to build two hospitals in Accra and Bator for the people that live there. Sister E is a medical doctor and she worked very hard to accomplish all that. She trained doctors and medical staff so they can work independently. Also she taught people hygienic rules and showed how to eat healthy, even in poverty.
Sister E and her team fought against Noma. In case you haven’t hear about Noma: “Noma (cancrum oris) is an acute and ravaging gangrenous infection affecting the face. The victims of Noma are mainly children under the age of 6, caught in a vicious circle of extreme poverty and chronic malnutrition who suffer unimaginable pain, discomfort and social exclusion from their communities. Noma is an opportunistic infection that begins with ulcers in the mouth that is promoted by extreme poverty. If the condition is detected in the early stage, progression can be prevented with the use of mild antibiotics and immediate nutritional rehabilitation. If left untreated, as happens in most cases, the ulcers progress to Noma at an alarming pace. The next stage is extremely painful when the cheeks or lips begin to swell and the victim’s general condition deteriorates. Within a few days, the swelling increases and a blackish furrow appears and the gangrenous process sets in and, after the scab falls away and a gaping hole is left in the face. It is estimated that the mortality rate reaches up to an alarming 90%.
” (Source: http://www.facingafrica.org/what-is-noma/)
Some of the children with Noma had to have surgery. Sister E contacted Peter’s mom to find a solution for the children. Peter’s mom talked to some of her friends and one of them knew Dr. Gottfried Lemperle. Dr. Lemperle was in contact with Interplast and he founded Interplast Germany.
Bringing the children to Germany for surgery cost a lot of money because most of them needed more than one surgery so they stayed a couple of months. Interplast (https://www.interplast-germany.de/) took care of the costs and Prof. Dr. Lemperle did the surgery without charging for it.
Between surgeries the children stayed with my master’s family. I don’t know if I told you that my master and my mistress were a couple back then – but this is another story. What I try to tell you is my master and my mistress both experienced having these children in Germany. The children were very quick learners and after a few weeks they spoke German. It was an experience for my master and he liked it very much.
A couple of years later my master went to Ghana for a few weeks to help repairing some medical machines.
Sister E took care of all these children and others and she did a lot for the people in Ghana. Some years ago she came back to Germany where she lives in a convent.
After we picked her up we went to Kaiserslautern to meet more cousins. We went to a Chinese Restaurant (https://www.gourmetpalast-kl.de/) and it smelled very, very good. Everybody working there was very, very friendly. Unfortunately I did not get any food there, as usual. Later we went to the house of one of the cousins. Some of the cousins didn’t even realize I was in the restaurant.
On the way back home we got stuck in a traffic jam for about an hour and when we finally arrived home I was so tired. My master wanted to take me for a walk but luckily for me it rained and so we only took a short walk.
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