When I was home last year do you remember me telling you the story about Tani???

Tani touched and found a way into my heart; there is no doubt about it, and now she’s coming back…

We have the funds allocated to bring Tani, a caregiver and transportation back to the ship from Togo for Tani. Our plastic surgeon, Dr. Tertius, a plastic surgeon who regularly volunteers his time  is back on the ship and Tani can come back for some more reconstructive surgery of her badly burnt face. Praise the Lord!!! However, she has not been able to obtain a passport as yet and Dr. Tertius is only here for 4 weeks and has already been here for 1. He does come back at the end of the outreach though, so if Tani can not be seen this time there will be a next time as long as she can get a passport…please pray to that end for her!

You might remember me saying this young girl has more joy in her one eye than all of our eyes put together – I still stand by that and am thrilled that I will be able to see her again. I will still be able to spend some time with her and I feel blessed to be able to see this girl that inspires the best of me; sometime while we are here in SL!!!! :):):)

  TANI NAKABE

By Elaine B. Winn

In one of the northern most villages in Togo, W. Africa, food is cooked over an outdoor wood fire that is kept burning for warmth in cooler weather. When little Tani was a year old, she awoke from her nap and toddled outside to find her mother. Drawn to the fire, she put her foot on a protruding log. It flipped up and hit her in the head, knocking her over. The burning log quickly enflamed her hair, burning her head and face before her screams of pain brought help from family members.

She was taken to a small local hospital, but no burn specialist was available. Not knowing how to properly treat the burns, they applied alcohol, further drying the badly damaged skin. The fire destroyed her right eye, her nose, and all but a trace of her right ear. When the skin above her mouth burned, it pulled up and constricted the right side of her upper lip. She has only her left eye and ear to help her function.

Nevertheless, Tani is a very bright child and is in the second level in school, where her classmates taunt and insult her. Still, she has a joyful spirit. She attends her village church and loves to sing there. Her parents were not moved to bring her to Mercy Ships, but her church family was. The church leadership elected a deacon to escort her to Mercy Ships for surgery without charge. The deacon left his wife and three children for a month to bring her to Lome because he felt it was his duty to afford this opportunity for Tani. After a month, the deacon got word that a wind storm had blown the roof of his house off. He had to return home. So, the pastor’s son, who was just completing exams at a school nearby, came to stay with Tani in the hospital.

I first saw Tani sitting by herself on a bench at the Hospitality Center about 6 weeks ago. Her frail little body and horribly disfigured face I didn’t find repugnant at all. In fact, I was drawn to her partly because she sat so straight on the bench, and partly because she didn’t present herself as a figure to be pitied. My translator and I found her escort and interviewed him about her life. Surely, I would have to write this courageous child’s story.

Tani will need another surgery and maybe a third to rebuild her nose and possibly provide a socket for a glass eye. Funding is being sought to allow her to travel to Sierra Leone where she can receive her surgery in the next field service early next year.

It’s now early next year and she will be here soon whether it be now or later. Please keep her in your prayers and I will keep you posted on her progress.

God go bless you! (Krio)  xx