“My name is Meraf. Half a life ago, in November, 2009, I was flown to Ghana by Dr Rick and the JDC Spine Team. I had dangerous surgery ahead, and no parent beside me. After a week  of traction, I was taken to the operating theatre. As my body lay flat on the table, I saw giant machines all around me and was afraid. The FOCOS medical team reminded me: “You are in the best hands in the world.” 

I counted backward from ten, and found myself feeling sleepy. I couldn’t hear the bone saws that would soon be cutting through my back.”

This was the opening statement of my “thank you speech,” at age 11, at the 2010 Mountainfilm Festival of Telluride, Colorado, and 2012 FOCOS Gala, two places a person like me wouldn’t even dream of being part of.

I was born with severe congenital scoliosis, which caused my spine to arc and stick out. Try putting your hand into your armpit, and touching your hip. I bet you can’t do it. My armpit and my hip were 3 fingers apart! I had terrible posture, and my heart and lungs were crushed. 

Although I grew up with love for education, school wasn’t my favorite place. Having a peculiar shape meant that I got reminded of it every single day. As a result, often I would find myself staring at my reflection, and wondering if this - a short girl with funny fitted clothes, was all I would ever be. If I survived. 

You see, the first 11 years of my life revolved around going to every doctor in the country who knew something about the spine, running tens of tests and x-rays, only to hear “a cure is not possible in Ethiopia.‘’ Or even worse, “you should accept what nature gives you.” The worst part was the anguish in my father’s eyes. He was my hero and my champion. Ever since my condition was discovered, he made it his mission to find a cure. After every disappointing appointment, he would say “when God closes a door, he opens a window” and off we would go to the next. An operation by an Ethiopian neurosurgeon was expensive and caused no change.

At the time, I was vested in books and fairy tales - they offered an escape to a world of wonders, possibilities, and above all - miracles. Then I’d return to earth when a doctor would say “I’m sorry, but…” 

Then we heard about Dr. Rick. My family calls him and his team a gifts from God. We heard stories about an American doctor who was causing miracles for people like me, helping turn their crooked spines straight. We found him working for the JDC at a Christian clinic in the heart of the city. 

Never would I have believed that a doctor would sacrifice a comfortable  life of comfort to reside in a foreign country for over 30 years, just to help youths with deformities. It was due to his relentless effort that we acquired the necessary funding and medical teams that made the miracle happen.