Reaching Out With Hope:
New Life For Two-Year-Old Child
From Kenya

By HECTOR FLORES

Harun Omindi has fit a world of experience into two years of life. He suffered through chronic illness, traveled 300 miles from his home village to be tested by doctors, who then sent him to America for treatment.

And there, his heart, in need of healing, touched hearts in Southeast Queens and built a bond that would support his mother and send him home with hope for the future.

Omindi will live a normal life now, according to projects by the Gift of Life Foundation which flew him in for surgery and arranged for his mother to stay with him at the Ronald McDonald House.

But even as the Foundation was making possible
the healing of his heart,
the Swahili Ministry of Our Saviour Lutheran Church in Jamaica was giving Omindi’s mother, Ruth Musumba,
the strength and courage to see her son pull through
his ordeal.

"It would not have been easy if it weren’t for the Swahili Ministry," Musumba told the PRESS through a translater. "They helped ease this very difficult time for me by visiting us in the hospital every day. They were my family and my support and I am very grateful for them."

The Swahili Ministry was formed in October of 1999 by Perucy Butiku, a deacon of Our Saviour Lutheran Church. Butiku realized that there was a growing number of Swahili-speaking people from East and Central Africa in her Southeast Queens community. Being from the country of Tanzania herself, Swahili was Butiku’s native language, so she decided to begin holding services in the language.

The Swahili Ministry meets on the first Sunday of every month at 1 p.m. and currently draws more than 120 people from the community each meeting.

"We are so grateful to have played a role in Omindi’s life," Deacon Butiku said. "This whole experience has been wonderful, we have been brought so much closer together as Christians and as a community.

Watching two year old Harun Omindi play with his mother, one would have never guessed that the little boy had just undergone major heart surgery.

Since birth, Omindi’s life had been a constant struggle.

Prone to illnesses and infections, his mother Ruth Musumba had tried her best to take care of him, but in their small village of Emunkunzi, Kenya, proper medical treatment and diagnosis was hard to come by and Omindi’s poor health continued.

Then one local doctor made a startling diagnosis that would change everything. Omindi was suffering from a heart problem, and he referred Musumba to the Gift of Life Foundation with the hope that they would be able to get the medical attention Omindi needed to finally give him a happy and healthy life.

The Gift of Life Foundation is an organization that has been saving children’s lives since 1975.

Run by a group of Rotarians who donate their time and energy to saving children’s lives, the organization has treated over 1,700 children from around the world. They have helped children in Europe, the Caribbean, South and Central America, Africa, Asia, and even in the United States.

Omindi, at the Ronald McDonald House two weeks after successfully recovering from surgery, is visited by Tony Messineo, Board member for the Gift of Life Foundation and Deacon Perucy Butiku from Southeast Queens’ Swahili Ministry. PRESS Photo by Hector Flores

The Foundation identifies children with heart illnesses and provides them with access to the surgical means of repairing their defects. Members of the association establish fundraisers and often give charitable gifts of up to $5,000. Medical Centers in the United States and worldwide do their part in the Foundation by providing their services while American families open their homes to children’s parents. Churches and other philanthropic organizations help by serving as interpreters, a spokesperson explained.

So when Musumba was referred to the Gift Of Life Foundation, hope was finally on her side. On June 15, Musumba traveled 300 miles from her village to the capital of Kenya, Nairobi to see a Gift of Life doctor. The doctor examined Omindi and concluded that the boy had a torn heart valve and a blockage in one of his major blood vessels.

"You cannot get our help until a Gift for Life doctor confirms a child’s heart problem," explained Tony Messineo, a board member of the Gift Of Life Foundation. "After the child’s condition has been confirmed, we begin the life saving process."

It took one month to arrange for Omindi’s heart surgery. On the 18th of July, Omindi and his mother arrived in New York, where he was rushed to Long Island Jewish Hospital to be treated for malaria and then prepared for surgery.

According to his doctors, Omindi was just too weak to operate on right away and needed to be treated for numerous infections. His mother was given room and board at the Ronald McDonald House, but she was alone emotionally.

And when the Foundation needed a translator to reach out to Musumba, they called Deacon Perucy Butiku from Our Saviour Lutheran Church’s Swahili Ministry.

She met with Musumba two days after her arrival and immediately formed a bond.

"I became her surrogate mother," said Deacon Butiku of the 25-year-old mother. "She was so lonely and afraid. Our congregation welcomed her into our family and tried to make her stay here as pleasant as possible."

Omindi was operated on Aug. 7th. After the operation, he remained an outpatient of the hospital for about a week, and doctors are reporting that the operation was a success and Omindi is recovering.

"I can’t believe this was the same kid we brought in with malaria," said Messineo. "It’s amazing . . . these kids come in so sick and at times they can’t even walk, but after the operation and proper care they are running all over the place."

Messineo added that the Foundation is planning to make surgery possible for 200 more kids this year.

Musumba was very thankful and expressed her gratitude to everyone involved. "I appreciate the hospitality given to me at the Ronald McDonald House," She told her translator, Butiku. "I will forever be grateful to the Gift of Life Foundation for giving my son his life back."

Musumba and her son returned home Aug. 28, happy, healthy and anxious to tell the story of their time in America and the people of Our Savior Lutheran Church.

They also carried with them funds raised by the congregation through an African Night and Dance held at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Hollis last weekend. As Omindi continues to grow, the generosity of Queens will help his family care for him and his sister, and Butiku said that her congregation intends to continue offering support to the family as the children grow.

As for Musumba, Butiku said she was "so excited to go back and see her five year old daughter. She can’t wait to see her family’s reaction when they see Harun."

Donations for Omindi are still being collected by the Swahili Ministry at Our Senior Saviour Lutheran Church 90-04 175th St., Jamaica, telephone 739-7452.