“I first noticed that the little girl wore a long sleeve shirt when I took her out to play, despite the very hot summer sun,” says Rebecca. “She loved to run, but moved awkwardly and couldn’t catch a ball like the other children. Then, at the end of my first community service visit to Ward 8 at the Mbabane hospital, I gave each of the kids a hug before heading back to classes at Waterford. I was shocked by the feeling of hard ridges of skin under Philile’s long shirt.” 

 

Since arriving at Waterford from Angola several years before, Rebecca had been looking forward to the community service part of the curriculum. Interested in a career in child development, she chose to work at Ward 8 with abandoned and handicapped children.  ”I loved it,” she says. “It was the best part of my week.”

 

Rebecca soon heard Philile’s story from the hospital social worker: an accident when she was five had left her with severe burn scarring. With major burns to more than 40 per cent of her body, it was miraculous that her life had been saved – but the hospital had been unable to offer her the specialist treatment that could prevent the scarring and the resulting immobilization of her hands and arms. Her grandmother, who had previously cared for her, had felt unable to cope with the situation and never returned to the hospital.

 “Philile’s scarring meant that her body would be unable to grow and develop naturally as she entered adolescence,” says Rebecca. “Everyone who had met Philile felt sorry for her and wished that she could get some help —but there was none. I decided that I wasn’t going to wait around and watch time go by.”

 

Rebecca started by calling a number of South African doctors, who were sympathetic but explained that Phillie would require extensive plastic surgery and hospitalisation over several years – a mammoth task. Back home in Ontario for the holidays (although Rebecca was born and grew up in Angola she spent her holidays with her Canadian development-worker parents in Ontario)  Rebecca happened to meet a clown selling hotdogs for charity. He was raising money for the Shriners children’s burn hospital in Boston, one of the world’s leading centres for burn treatments.

 

“I had found the lead that I needed,” she says. “I decided that I would try to find some way to get Phillie into the hospital.”

 

Abandoned children,without family and without any documents are a problem all over Africa. Rebecca discussed her plans to try to get Phillie medical treatment with the Mbabane hospital staff and staff at Waterford. “The obstacles appeared to be enormous, and I felt a bit discouraged,” says Rebecca, “but I persevered”. 

She not only had to persuade the hospital to accept Phillie, but also needed to find a guardian close to the hospital who could take care of her during the treatment period – which could take several years. A legal guardian for Phillie in Swaziland was also needed to allow her to travel and be transferred to another guardian during the treatment.

“I had to find a way to get Phillie from Africa to America, find the funds for the various expenses from medical tests, vaccinations, visa, taxis to reach the authorities, faxes and innumerable phone calls between Swaziland, South Africa, Angola and Boston – and then resolve all the bureaucratic problems of visas and passports for a child who didn’t even have a birth certificate.

 

“Many people helped and supported me over the next few months. A local social worker, Ms Ellen Mbusa, helped me with the Swazi bureaucracy while we tried to get documents for Phillie. A bank manager in Canada helped me to set up a ‘Swazi Child Appeal’ charity account, and the local Canadian paper wrote a story to encourage contributions.

“I used the UWC network to make contacts in Boston, and found an organisation called the Children’s Medical Mission (CMM). Almost immediately, they agreed to take Phillie, finding her a good host family in Boston.”

 

In the last week of July 2004 the hospital confirmed their offer of treatment. Phillie’s passport had just been issued, and the US Embassy agreed to give her a visa. On 4 August, South African Airlines donated two tickets for flights from Swaziland to New York, through Johannesburg, and Rebecca was made Phillie’s temporary guardian. “I met Phillie and we set off on the long 20 hour journey to Boston. Phillie, who hadn’t really travelled beyond the hospital grounds, wondered if we had reached Boston after the short flight to Johannesburg.”

 

In Boston, Rebecca and Phillie met Phillie’s very welcoming host family, and visited the hospital. Phillie registered at the local school Boston began to feel like home.

Rebecca knows that Philile now has “the chance at a life.” Although the reconstructive surgery may be long and traumatic, she will hopefully be able to grow and regain mobility – within a loving home, and with the stimulation to grow intellectually in a way that had not been possible in Ward 8.     

   

“What Rebecca has achieved is quite remarkable - the strengths and resolution she has developed over the years means that she has a tremendous amount to offer the world,” says Laurence Nodder, Headmaster at Waterford.