cleft lip and palate
Isa's Chance to Live a Normal Life
CBN.com Little Isa was born with a mostly disfigured face. He had a double cleft-lip/palate deformity, which soon caused many challenges in his young life.
His mother, Sa’adatu, could not nurse him. His deformity was so severe that Isa could not even swallow water. His desperate parents could only watch in despair as their son grew weaker and weaker from malnourishment.
Although the family was very poor and barely able to care for their five other children, with the proceeds from their small yam farm in the village, they took Isa to a hospital in Bauchi (northern Nigeria). Unfortunately, their life savings could not pay for the cost of the surgery.
As Muslims, they believed his condition must be the will of Allah, and they resigned themselves to fate.
It was in this situation Operation Blessing (Nigeria) found them and took on Isa’s case.
A visibly bewildered Sa’adatu was speechless when she learned that a Christian organization was going to pay for Isa’s corrective surgery, and he would look like an ordinary baby boy afterwards.
“You mean my baby’s lips will be alright after the surgery?” she asked repeatedly.
Despite assurances, Isa’s mother still had misgivings, but her emotions changed to pure joy when she saw Isa after surgery.
“I don’t know what to say, that a Christian organization would help Muslims like us. It is like a dream,” she said.
Thank you CBN partners, for giving little Isa the chance to live a normal life!
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