Sabo is a father in his late 30’s who was born with a severe right clubfoot. He has worked hard to provide for his family, despite his disability. He works as an overseer for his neighborhood and is required to make decisions for running certain aspects in their camp for Internally Displaced Peoples.
Sabo was initially evaluated for surgery in January 2019 through a partner NGO. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he had been on the waiting list for two years. In June of 2021, in the time that he was still waiting, there was tragically a huge fire that swept through his camp burning down over 400 homes and tents, including his own. Operation Mercy stopped all projects for the day to assist in the clean-up from the aftermath of the fire. Despite being on crutches -his only mode of ambulation- he wanted to help us shovel and clean, even when we were in an area that was not near the burned remains of his house. He was an example to everyone as he was cleaning ashes of burned down homes while on crutches despite losing his own home.
Several months after the fire, a couple of partnering NGOs built Sabo and his family a house made of concrete—a rarity in the camps. Then, in October 2022, through the partner NGO and the surgeon and his team that came, Sabo received a life-changing foot corrective surgery. This past December, the NGO returned to the region and removed his cast and Sabo is now being visited weekly for rehabilitation exercises by Operation Mercy. We are starting a peer group next week with him and a few other men his age who also received similar surgeries. They will gather, learn, and do activities and exercises together.
Sabo is a leader in his community and has overcome many difficulties and disappointments due to his disability. Now, two years after losing his house and initially not receiving surgery due to a pandemic, through partnerships between Operation Mercy and other NGOs, he now has a stable home for him and his family and is walking on his “new” foot.
