25.01.2011 11:51

Anta, from Senegal to Catalonia to be healed

www.fcbarcelona.cat

The Foundation, in collaboration with Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, brought Anta, a beneficiary of XICS Senegal to be cured in Barcelona. She had a serious problem with her digestive system, but will be going back home totally cured.

Anta Boyé is an eleven year old Senegalese girl who was born in Richard Toll, the city in the north of the country where the Fundació FC Barcelona has set up a XICS (International Network of Solidarity Centres). Anta is a beneficiary of the centre, but ever since she was born she has had a serious problem with her digestive system that the Senegalese health service was been unable to solve and that had left her in a socially stigmatised situation.

The XICS doctors told the Foundation about her problem and as a result, Anta has been brought to Barcelona for treatment. “When any of the beneficiaries of the XICS has a very serious illness, we seek solutions through partnerships with other entities or organisations” explained Josep Cortada, the director general of the Foundation.

November arrival in Barcelona

Last November, the Foundation started arranging her transfer to Catalonia and thanks to the agreement established with the Hospital Sant Joan de Déu, Anta was taken there as part of that hospital’s project entitled ‘Cuida’m’ (care for me), which aims to treat sick children from poor countries with few resources. “We often work with private entities, and the Fundació FC Barcelona’s initiatives in this respect have been very important”, says Francisco José Cambra, medical director of the project.

Anta underwent surgery in mid November at the hands of a top level medical team and after a satisfactory post-operation period, she was released on Friday, and the Foundation has started making arrangements for her to fly back to her family this week. “I have made friends in Barcelona and they have looked after me, but I am looking forward to going back to my parents” she said, after having enjoyed all the learning and play facilities in the hospital.

Fatimata, great company

She has had two operations in her time here, and the XICS centre teacher Fatimata Sarr, who has joined her in Barcelona, has been a major assistance, as the girl’s parents don’t speak any European languages. Fatimata has been her constant companion, working as a nurse, a translator (Anta only speaks one of the official languages of Senegal, Wolof) and most of all, a mother and friend. “We have had tough moments and happy moments”, confessed Fatimata “if Anta felt pain I felt it too, if she couldn’t sleep, neither could I.” A wonderful display of solidarity.