Rest In Peace Musu - 31/5/08

Sadly one of my patients at SOS passed away at the weekend. Musu was a lovely young lady who despite being severely disabled, beamed a huge smile for those she loved.

Musu had been abandoned years ago, and left for dead, owing probably to her obvious disability. SOS have taken care of her all her life, and she became one of my first patients a year ago. She was looked after by Auntie Hawa, a dedicated and loving woman, who treated Musu like her own daughter. Despite all the difficulties and hardships she faced, Auntie Hawa never gave up on Musu, as many others had, but instead fought to give her everything she could.

On first meeting I was unsure what we would be able to achieve. But she was able greet people (or those that she wanted to!) with a held out hand to shake, and could feed herself water from a cup. We had made a special chair for her to be supported in to be able to eat with the other children in the home. A wheelchair allowed her to sit outside and be part of what was going on, and a walking frame allowed her to be helped to walk – albeit slowly and very unsteadily. Musu often joined me in the physio room. She like to stand in the parallel bars and watch herself in the mirror, then turn to the happenings of the room, then of course turn back to look at herself again. She enjoyed when others sang songs for her. And she even made it to the beach twice with trips arranged by Rotary Teams who visited from UK.

Without a doubt, Musu's last year was full of opportunities, care, fun and unconditional love. Aunti Hawa did such a great job, and supported by Auntie Mammie the boss of the disabled children's home, Musu was well taken care of.

The biggest smile I saw from Musu was when Auntie Mammie told her “Jesus loves you” - her radiant smile only got bigger as we repeated the truth to her, it was something I will never forget.
I do know that she is now in Papa God's loving arms. May she rest and play and laugh now in His glorious warm freedom.

Musu - A girl that could do very little herself, but had some how grasped the joyous truth that someone cares.