Seynabou Senne

She kneeled on the ground with her hands in worn-out flip-flops, crawling on all fours. Even with her head raised, she could only see her mother’s knees. Seynabou said to her mother, “Please give me a glass of water”. With a furrowed brow, her mother gave her a glass of water and muttered: “Seynabou, how long will I have to raise you? You live worse than a dog…”

Seynabou Senne crawling at their house.

 

In September of 2023, Priest Gilbert from the Brazil missionary team came to Seynabou’s home. The priest examined her hands and feet. Seynabou, who had been crawling on the ground due to a muscle and bone condition. For many years, she had severely deformed hands, and her knees were calloused. The most valuable thing in Seynabou’s home was the dirty mattress, which was placed on the floor for Seynabou to crawl up and down easily.
Seynabou’s world was limited to the space in front of her. For 35 years, she never dared to imagine that she could walk freely. Her dream was simply that one day she could get water from the table for herself and raise her head to speak with everyone normally.

https://africacriesout.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Former-Seynabou-2.mov

Seynabou was like the girl depicted by American painter Andrew Wyeth in “Christina’s World”: On an autumn afternoon, a woman in a pink dress lay in a vast field, reaching towards her home on a distant hill. She had no freedom, no dignity, no hope, and no happiness.

“Christina’s World” by Andrew Wyeth

 

Pastor Gilbert felt that the most important thing was to give Seynabou a wheelchair, allowing her some degree of freedom. If she could sit up and look at everyone in the eye, she would have human dignity. But where could he find a wheelchair? Priest Gilbert posted a request online, and Pastor Anna saw it and immediately replied, “We have one!”

Seynabou in a wheelchair.

 

This change was brought to Seynabou by Dr. 赵壮志 (Steven Chao MD/PhD) and Dr. 阮艳姬 (Khanh Nguyen MS/MD), a couple from the Africa Cries Out team. In April 2003, they traveled thousands of miles, bringing seven wheelchairs from California to Senegal, Africa. These wheelchairs alleviated the urgent needs of several African patients, and Seynabou was one of them. Dr. Chao is a neurology professor at Stanford University, and Dr. Nguyen is the emergency and geriatrics director at Stanford-affiliated Veterans Hospital. In 2023, the two doctors, along with their three children and niece, joined our team. Their family was the largest in the 2023 Africa Cries Out team. They always keep a sincere smile on their faces while serving the people of the leper village and many other jungle villages.

Dr. 赵壮志 (Steven Chao MD/PhD) and Dr. 阮艳姬 (Khanh Nguyen MS/MD

Drs. Chao and Nguyen with their children.

The 2 doctors and their family, volunteering their time and service to Africa Cries Out, 2023.

 

I asked the couple, isn’t it better for your family to go to Europe to see the Mona Lisa or go to the Sahara Desert to see animals? It’s expensive to come to Senegal, and the schedule in the Africa Cries Out team is tiring. The children’s education will also be affected. Why make such a choice? Dr. Chao said, “I came to the United States from Beijing with my parents when I was in high school. I graduated from the University of Chicago Medical School, and thanks to the grace of God, I was fortunate to be in the medical field. Although we have never seen the Mona Lisa or the animals in the Sahara, my wife and I feel that providing voluntary medical care and service to the suffering people in the world and experiencing the hardships of the world, will be more meaningful”. Dr. Nguyen nodded in agreement, “I was once a Vietnamese refugee. My family sailed through a rough sea, struggling at the brink of death. I tried to seek refuge from camps in Thailand and the Philippines. I was finally accepted by the United States which opened a new chapter in my life. Steven was a classmate of mine in medical school, and now working at the same hospital. Both of us can understand the despair of the poor. Our goal is to serve them. We take our children around the world to cultivate their compassion and help others”.

In 2023, Dr. Chao and Dr. Nguyen’s family, after flying for more than 30 hours, arrived at the Africa Cries Out base.

 

Our team plans to set off for Senegal on March 7, 2024. We already have more than 120 medical experts, professionals, and young people signed up to participate. Dr. Chao and his family of five will work with us once again. We welcome everyone to support us, either with money or participation. If you have already registered, please establish an Africa Cries Out club in your school with your children. You can raise funds or help collect items needed by the African people: old phones, computers, good condition sports shoes, vitamins, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and other supplies. Please bring the items directly to JFK Airport in New York on the day of departure. If you cannot go to Africa, you can still help by collecting items and sending them to Jun Xu, MD, 1171 E Putnam Avenue, Building 1/2nd Floor, Riverside, CT 06878.

Thank you, Africa welcomes you!

Africa Cries Out team’s photo, 2023.

 

 

Translator: Jeffrey Hu

Editor: Doris Cruz