Helida was 10 years old when we found her. We were so lucky to find her as she lives in one of the most remote villages we have yet encountered in Sumatra. Her parents are both farmers. They cannot read or write and they had no idea how to go about finding a way to access an operation for their child. We had helped a child living an hour’s drive away from Helida’s village the previous year, so after revisiting them we were given some very vague directions to help find her. It took us a very long time to track her down and we were over the moon when we finally found her. Helida was very shy because of her disfigurement; the other children teased her so she did not want to attend school, preferring to work in the fields with her family. Since her surgery and rehabilitation, Helida is much more confident and feels able to enjoy school.
