Megiso Meno
Megiso Mena was born in a remote area of Woilatta and never had the opportunity to attend school, but he was talented and hardworking and became a successful farmer. He also grew and traded coffee. Because he had money and was strong, his neighbors respected him and he had a busy active life at the market place.
Ayelech was also a well-known businesswoman in her area, trading coffee, false banana dough, salt, and spices at the market. From time to time, Ayelech bought coffee from Megiso and resold it. As Megiso got to know Ayelech, he was impressed by her business skills and character. Soon he asked her to marry him. When she agreed, they married and began a happy life together. Eventually, they had five children: three boys and two girls. Megiso made sure that all of his children attended school.
A few years after the birth of their first daughter, they happy life took a bad turn. Megiso had always walked from place to place to do his work. One day, when he returned from market, his right foot became itchy and he began feeling cold and shaky. When he scratched his foot, it began to swell. The swelling gradually increased and made him so uncomfortable that walking became difficult. Soon Megiso stopped going to market, but he still worked in his garden and was able to participate in local events.
Megiso before he received treatment and surgery could not travel further than his yard.
Two years after becoming sick and after a second son was born, Megiso’s condition became so bad that he could not work or take care of his home. All he could do was crawl out of the house to warm up in the sun.
At first, church members and neighbors carried him to different clinics and health centers, but as Megiso’s sickness grew worse, they grew weary of helping.
Throughout his challenges and difficulties, Megiso’s wife, Ayelech, comforted him and loved him. Some of her relatives and friends pressed her to leave Megiso and return to her father’s house. But Ayelech refused, telling them that she had given her word on her wedding day never to leave her husband until death. She tried to help Megiso find local medicines, but none of them helped.
Megiso did not give up searching for help. He had heard about Dr. Kelemu Desta who treated people like him with medicine and operated on their feet.
By selling avocados that he grew, Megiso was able to save the 60 birr he needed to pay for treatment in Soddo. Early in the morning, he took a bus to Soddo by himself and arrived at the bus station. He paid 6 birr for a buggy cart owner to take him to the Soddo Hospital where Dr. Kelemu worked. However, Megiso didn’t know what to do next. He had never been to a hospital and everything seemed new and strange. As night approached at the end of the first day, the hospital guards told him he must leave the hospital compound.
Some kind people showed Megiso a place to stay overnight. For three days he stayed near the hospital hoping to meet Dr. Kelemu, but was never able to see him. When he had spent almost all of his money, he sadly got on a bus and went back home in defeat.
After returning home, Megiso’s feet grew progressively worse and he was often ill. Year after year, more bulges grew on his feet.
Megiso was a prisoner in his own home
Then a Mossy Foot Project clinic opened in the Koyo area, not far from where Megiso lived. An official who heard about the clinic came to Megiso’s house and told him about the new project. Because Megiso was unable to walk to Koyo, Ayelech went and brought medicine for him. From the day the clinic opened, Ayelech went and brought soap, bleach, and whitefield ointment for her husband.
Soon, the Mossy Foot Project clinic workers at the Koyo site began visiting patients at home, and on one rainy day, they visited Megiso. During the visit, the workers were distressed when they saw rain pouring through Megiso’s roof and flooding his home. They felt very sad for Megiso and told him that the dampness and his poor living conditions contributed to his sickness.
The Mossy Foot Project had begun a program of building houses for needy patients and the clinic workers decided that Megiso should be considered for a new house. The houses were built by a combination of resources provided by the Mossy Foot Project and help from the local community and churches.
Young people from his church came to Megiso’s house and cut trees and dug the foundation for a new house. Mossy Foot Project provided supplies such as corrugated roofing, nails, windows, and doors as well as payment for the carpenters. With these materials, the church members built a new and strong house for Megiso and his family.
However, Megiso still felt like a prisoner in his home. He dreamed of walking long distances and participating again in society. His feet had grown so large that no treatment other than surgery could correct them. The whitefield ointment and bleach that his wife brought from the clinic removed the bad smell, but not the swelling and bulges.
Megiso learned to walk with a walker after his surgery at Soddo Christian Hospital
But God had a plan to meet Megiso’s need. In 2012, the Starkey Hearing Foundation sent a crew to film the activity of the Mossy Foot Project in Ethiopia for a documentary they were creating on organizations that served the poor. The project directors suggested including Megiso’s testimony in the movie. When Steven Sawalich, Senior Executive Director of the Starkey Hearing Foundation, heard Megiso’s story, he was deeply touched and promised to help Megiso by covering the expense for him to have surgery and treatment.
This is Megiso after treatment. Now he can smile!
Within a few months, Megiso was on his way to Soddo Christian hospital for surgery to remove the bulges and tumors from his feet. His faithful wife Ayelech was with him in the hospital encouraging and helping him when he couldn’t help himself.
Soon after the surgery, Megiso began using a walker and learning to walk again. The surgical wounds began healing and Megiso now looks forward to leading a normal life, caring for his family, and serving others with the hope that he has been given.