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| Rispa Auma Aguko |
When Rispa Auma Aguko
had a tooth ache in 1995 she didn’t know that a trip to a local herbalist could
turn tragic.
The mother of four and a
resident of Arambe village in Migori district was taken by her husband to
extract a bad tooth which though successful turned tragic later when her jaw
started to swell.
“The incident happened
17 years ago when the local herbalist removed my tooth but later my lower jaw
started to be painful before it started extending,” Rispa said while speaking
painfully with the sound coming as though her jaws re clenched tightly.
The jaw which has now
extended to the size of a hand ball makes her lower jaw to extend which apart
from being painful is making it hard for her to eat and perform her chores.
“I have been surviving
on fluids since last year when the pain increased as I cannot chew on solid
foods due to my swollen jaw. My life has been slowed due to stigmatisation and
I wish to start afresh after all these years” Rispa says.
According to Rispa’s
health records, her lower jaw needs reconstruction because it has extended and
swelled. This has reduced the activity of her jaw and movement of her teeth.
“I have visited several
hospitals for re-construction and Kenyatta Nation Hospital has agreed but the cost
is way too high for me. I was first
referred from Migori, to Homa Bay and then Kisumu hospitals before finally I
was taken to Kenyatta National Hospital” she says.
Her last stop was KNH
where after a scan she was told that to get a mandibular reconstruction
operation she needs to pay Sh200,000 to remove the swollen lower jaw.
Meanwhile, Rispa has
been forced to beg for hand outs from the public to try and raise the amount.
About a month ago through her youth group at her local Seventh Day Adventist
Church she has launched a CD to try to raise the amount.
“Rispa has gone through
much stigmatization and have been moving from hospital to hospital to have her
jaw reconstructed to no avail, we have seen her condition deteriorating from
two years ago and we launched the CD,” Pastor John Obunga Oyaro of Arambe SDA
said.
The gospel album, Jasamaria
Mang’uon, which has four gospel tracks sang by youths in the church and
pictures of Rispa retails for Ksh100.
The church and Rispa
call for well-wishers to come forward and help materially, financially and
emotionally to get treated for her treatment by funding the crucial the crucial
surgery.
Her pastor says they have
opened an account 0124508384800, National Bank- Migori Branch where
well-wishers can pay directly
©Manuel
Odeny, 2012
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