Thank you, dear doctor
(holistic treatment song)
Thank you, dear doctor
for fixing my face.
Grateful I’ll be till
the end of my days!
In spite your success I’ve something to tell,
that when I’m speaking, I’m not doing well.
The words get distorted, some leak through my nose,
and people start laughing, it’s just as it was.
And when my mouth opens and smile does appear
you see the disorder of teeth everywhere,
no good for my eating, no good for my speech,
and I won’t keep smiling when feeling at ease.
So how would you act then, if I were your son,
who spoke just as I do, well, what could be done?
And how would you act then, if I were your girl,
who smiled just like I do when facing the world?
Thank you, dear doctor,
for closing my cleft,
but what you could not fix,
why should it be left?
–Anders Holmefjord
Norwegian Speech Language Therapist
Anders helped train Assistant Speech Therapists at Yekatit 12 Hospital in Addis Ababa and delivered this poem during Session #67 at the Cleft Congress.
Many thanks to Anders for allowing us to share his beautiful words.