Fixing Abdelkhalek's Feet

I met Abdelkhalek in November of 2013 while on a one-week volunteer teaching experience in Sidi Moumen, Casablanca, Morocco. My co-worker and I were supposed to be placed in the capital of Morocco- the beautiful Rabat. Upon landing, we learned that schools were closed due a national holiday, and we were being relocated to an after school cultural center in Casablanca. At first thought, we were ecstatic because, lets face it, Humphrey Bogart romanticized Casablanca and made it look pretty amazing. Parts of Casablanca are beautiful, but we were placed in Sidi Moumen, the largest shanty-town, slum in the country. I was in shock and disbelief of where we were and wondered, honestly, if I would make it back home. When our cab driver asked where we were going, and we replied, “Sidi Moumen,” he kept shaking his head and saying, “No, no. I can't bring you there. It's too dangerous.” My co-worker and I had to be escorted wherever we went, even to cross the road to a nearby market. We learned that just a few years prior to us being there, two suicide bombings had occurred just down the road from the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center, our home for the week. Believing that I was there for a great purpose and having an abundance of faith, I knew God would protect me during that stay. The week was trying and difficult, but the lessons I learned and the fresh, new perspective on my life that I gained while there were priceless. I also believed that I was sent there for a larger purpose, and now that I am helping Abdelkhalek, I am seeing God's plan come to fruition before my eyes. 

Like I mentioned before, Sidi Moumen is a place of abject poverty and despair. In many places, garbage is knee deep, metal and cardboard lean-tos that serve as homes line the roads and span for miles. The people of Sidi Moumen are extremely poor, lacking proper education, shelter, and of course, medical care. It saddnes me to think that if Abdelkhalek was born here in the United States, his feet would have been fixed at birth, no matter what his family's economic status. Now, as a 20 year old, he has trouble walking, is in pain, and will never be able to live his life to full potential because of his disability. He has adapted well and has learned to walk on the sides of his feet, but will never be able to run, hold certain jobs, and complete many other tasks that many of us take for granted. Right after meeting Abdelkhalek at the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center, I made it my firm plan to try to get him help. I came home to rural northern Maine, spoke to many local doctors, inquired about what “next steps” I should take, but kept hitting dead ends. Soon, and I am ashamed to say this, Abdelkhalek's case became an “out of sight, out of mind” situation for me.  At the time, my husband and I were going through the process of surrogacy, which is actually the reason I took the trip to Morocco. The process of surrogacy was overwhelming for me, and feeling like I needed to put my life into perspective, I decided to do a volunteering trip.

Due to a critical situation during the birth of my daughter in 2010, I underwent an emergency hysterectomy.  Soon after I recovered, my husband and I starting looking into the process of surrogacy and adoption, knowing they could take time, but were pretty overwhelmed by each . We started adoption first, completing our background checks, doing home visits with our social worker, etc. but we were basically going nowhere. Feeling like adoption was never going to work for us, we started the process of surrogacy. The entire thing was long and grueling, and after one year of preparation, four embryo transplants, and the last transfer finally taking, our surrogate miscarried the same day we had our first ultrasound and saw our baby's heart beating. This was by far the most challenging thing, emotionally and psychologically, that I've ever been through.   As previously mentioned, I took the volunteer trip to Morocco as a way of clearning my mind, putting things into perspective, and gaining a new appreciation for all that I had in my privileged life.  

I was very distraught, emotionally and mentally, after our surrogacy experience. I knew the only thing that could fill the void in my heart would be another child. So my husband and I went back to adoption. It didn't seem to work for us in two years we had tried before, therefore leaving us incredulous, but having faith, we decided to give it a go again. Months and months of waiting and no match for us. Then, on September 19, 2014, two days before we were leaving to go on a family vacation to Florida, we got our phone call. A young mother, living in a wonderful home for pregnant women in crisis, two and a half hours away from us, was being induced in three days. We cancelled our Florida trip, traveled to meet the mother, and were able to be there for the birth of our son Tristan, now 19 months. 

It's amazing when I sit back and think about all that I've been through, and ultimately know that it was all part of "the plan". Each step along the way, led me to where I am now. If I didn't have to have a hysterectomy, I wouldn't have gone through the process of surrogacy. If I didn't go through the process of surrogacy, I wouldn't have needed the trip to Morocco to “find myself” and bring my life into perspective, realizing I had it pretty good, regardless of a few bumps in the road. If the process of surrogacy had worked, I wouldn't have my son, Tristan. If I didn't go to Morocco, I wouldn't have met Abdelkhalek. If I didn't meet Abdelkhalek, he probably would have to live with his feet like this his whole life. 

So what brought me back to seeking help for Abdelkhalek? This spring, our school nurse (I have been a middle school English teacher for nine years) sent around an email about a Shriner's orthopedic clinic being offered, and wanted teachers to pass on the information to any students we knew needed help. This ignited that spark inside me that had been smoldering for three years. Right then and there, back in March, I stared researching Shriners International and began my first emails, inquiring information and building a case for Abdelkhalek. The difficulty in building a case was that I needed to obtain personal information about him, such as his date of birth, address, etc.  Many correspondence were exchanged via email, which was difficult.  I finally decided to call someone and explain the case in person. The really amazing thing is that the Shriners only see children/young adults up to age 21. Learning that Abdelkhalek was born in 1995, I thought it might be too late. After gathering more information, though, I found out that he would turn 21 in August, giving me a very small window to get everything in. The Shriners' doctors also required photographs of his feet and legs without pants and shoes, and I had to get all this information through my English-speaking contact at the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center in Casablanca (Abhelkhalek does not speak English at all; he speaks Arabic). Language and a time difference became a major barrier, and relaying and transferring this information to my contact with the Shriners became a lengthy process. 

In early May I received word that Abdelkhalek's case was being brought to the Shriners' board and they would decide whether or not to take him on. I didn't hear anything for a few weeks and began to think he would be rejected. On June 1st, I received the phone call I had been waiting for- that Abdelkhalek's case was accepted and he would be seen in Springfield, MA! 

Abdelkhalek will be meeting a team of orthopeodic surgeons on August 15. The Shriners will fund all of his medical costs, which is an amazing thing. The problem is, they have no idea right now (until they see him in August) whether or not they will be molding him for foot braces, which he will more than likely have to wear for months, or whether they will perform surgery on both his feet.   Since he has not had any access to medical care, therefore no medical records, x-rays, etc., the Springfield, MA Shriner doctors will be starting from scratch.  His official diagnosis is yet to be made, but I speculate it is a severe case of club foot, a condition that would have quickly been corrected at birth here in the United States, regardless of one's economic status.  Therefore, the timeline of Abdelkhalek's duration in the United States is unknown.  

I will travel to Massachusetts andd meet him at an airport (unknown which one at the moment) in the area a night or two before his appointment. There is a Ronald McDonald house across from the hospital where we will stay (given he is not admitted in the hosptial). As mentioned, his medical expenses will be graciously covered by the Shriners, but all others expenses will not (airfare, food, lodging, follow-up visits to the United States, etc.). If there are any funds remaining at the end of Abdelkhalek's medical ordeal, a donation will be given to the Sidi Moumen Cultural Center in Casablanca, which is where I met Abdelkhalek (you can google the center or look it up on Facebook to learn more). 

I am beyond excited for this to happen for Abdelkhalek. It will be amazing for him to know what it feels like to walk normally, run, play sports- things he has been deprived of the first twenty years of his life, but can spend another 60 plus doing once corrected. It would be so amazing, and I firmly believe that giving back and helping others is what life is truly about.

I want to thank you for reading Abdelkhalek's story.  Giving towards his cause will change his life forever!