Bright’s Story, Hope Restored

To a mother, her child is the most precious thing in the world. She will do everything she can to nurture and support the child.  Unless there is absolutely nothing she can do.

For a long time, Bright had a disease that created cracks on the skin of his feet making it extremely painful to walk. With Bright’s condition, it was as if his legs had been cut off. Because he could not move on his own, Bright could not play with the other children, or attend school. His family tried everything they could to help – the community, the doctors, the hospitals – they had asked everywhere for help. However, everywhere they turned yielded nothing. Everyone they asked said that Bright could never get well; everyone’s advice was to simply give up.

And Bright’s family did start to give up, to them, there was simply no solution. When Bright cried, his mother had to start leaving him. She ran a charcoal business to support the family, and had done everything she could to support the child. There was simply nothing else in her capacity that she could do.

                                   Bright’s Family

Bright mother, Aida, however, is also one of the women empowered by Sustain Micro Enterprise. When our team members were doing their home visits to check on her businesses, they noticed Bright. Aida shared Bright’s story with the team.

Equipped with Bright’s story, we shared it with one of our friend-Carole Gregory who was touched and decided that we take the child to better hospital in capital city, Kampala.  Bright was taken to the hospital in Kampala where he was diagnosed with skin infection called Eczema. The doctors provided remedy and Bright’s feet were soon healing significantly.

On our recent visit to Bright home, his improvements were evident. He has registered for school, and though he is several years behind, he is attending primary one. Though his feet are only slowly healing, he can walk on his own now and play with his friends.

But it’s not just Bright that has healed. As Bright’s family shares his story, their past desperation and struggles are evident. They had tried so hard but did not prevail. As the mother watches Bright walk out of the house, her smile glows. The family has their child back, their most precious possession.