VALUE IN A LIFE
NORMAN-BASED NONPROFIT HELPS AFRICAN CHILD OVERCOME STIGMA OF LOSING A LEG
NORMAN — In many parts of the world, a 9-year-old orphan boy who cannot work in the fields is considered a worthless burden.
A boy with one leg cannot stand in the fields all day chasing partridges away from the crops or use a machete to clear weeds. He is an outcast and considered useless in his village in Cote d’Ivoire, deep in the bush of Africa.
This is Fidele’s story, told in French, through an interpreter, on a recent hot afternoon on the patio of a Starbucks in Norman, thousands of miles from his home.
Fidele looks like an American teenager in his bright T-shirt, shorts, running shoes and a new prosthetic left leg. It’s a beautiful leg, shiny and strong, and the best leg available. The hope it brings is due in no small part to help from the Norman-based 1040 Initiative, or 1040i.
“My name is Shep Fidele. I am 15. I was born with two legs. Today I have one,” he said. “My father died when I was 8, and my mother could not keep me. I was sent to my aunt’s to work in the fields and was not allowed to go to school.”
Fidele’s uncle resented having the responsibility, but if the child worked, there was a mat to sleep on and food. No matter how hard he worked, it was never good enough, and his uncle’s harsh words were daily reminders he wasn’t wanted or loved.
“One day at 5 a.m., my aunt woke me and told me to go and collect a stalk of bananas,” he said. He rode his bicycle six miles into the forest, cut the bananas and headed back to the main road.
Struck by sudden excruciating abdominal pain, he lay down on the road, alone and afraid.
“I thought I was going to die,” he said. Schoolchildren walked past him, and then a boy he did not know had compassion for him and helped him get back to his aunt’s house.
The pain continued for three weeks. He was in misery, unable to eat or sleep, and the pain traveled to his leg. He was helpless, as the suffering continued for six months.
Despair, then hope
During that time his aunt visited a witch doctor to get medicine. Another visit to a witch doctor required payment of a white chicken and a supply of moonshine.
The diagnosis determined there was a spell on the child. He was considered cursed.
“I cried and cried and cried,” Fidele said. “The pain was so intense I wanted to die.”
Fidele was dying when he was brought to a clinic just eight miles from his village.
The nonprofit organization 1040i, based in Norman, visits Doropo, Cote d’Ivoire, once a year to provide services at the clinic. The mission of the humanitarian group, organized 11 years ago by Mike Cousineau, is concentrated on providing pure water, healing and education.
As soon as Dr. James Cox, an orthopedic surgeon from Florida, and Dr. Perry Brooks, a maxillofacial surgeon from Norman, examined Fidele, they determined the boy’s leg had to be amputated to save his life.
The then 10-year-old was restored to life, but his troubles were not over. The uncle learned the boy had one leg and sent word not to come back.
The uncle’s wife accused Fidele of cutting off his own leg and called the boy a sorcerer. The mat where he slept was thrown outside, and the area was used to store millet, a tiny yellow seed grain, more valuable than a crippled child. Fidele slept on the ground.
Despite everything Fidele experienced, he had a hope within him instilled by an African
My name is Shep Fidele. I am 15. I was born with two legs.
Today I have one.”
pastor who went to the village huts and talked about God. The pastor told Fidele there was a God who loved him, a father to all orphans.
Outpouring of love
The love Fidele longed for has poured out to him in many ways through many people, beginning with 1040i and the volunteers who put their lives on hold for two weeks every year to minister to people desperate for help.
This month, through a partnership with EastPoint Prosthetics in Kinston, N.C., and Martin Bionics in Oklahoma City, Fidele was fitted with a custom prosthesis, which includes a Niagara foot that is used in lessdeveloped parts of the world.
During Fidele’s stay in Oklahoma from Sept. 6-18, he told his story to students at the University of Oklahoma, Norman and Edmond schools and at CrossPointe Church.
Maddie Jones, 17, a Norman High School student, said Fidele’s story made her realize the great need for mission work in Oklahoma and other parts of the world. Maddie said she plans to go to Africa on the next mission trip.
“Fidele’s story is why I want to be involved with 1040i,” she said.
Alex Frankenfeld, 22, an OU student from Dallas, heard Fidele’s story when he spoke to Beta Upsilon Chi members. Frankenfeld, who is in remission for a cancerous pelvic tumor, said he was very affected by Fidele’s story of suffering.
“I thought I had things tough,” Frankenfeld said. “I have strong family ties, a prayer network, my fraternity and great medical care. Fidele was alone, no father or anyone to care for him.”
Fidele returned to Africa Sept. 19 and will live with a pastor and his family. He will go to school, learn to read and write and begin to live a life filled with possibilities.
The boy who was ridiculed and thrown away is standing on two feet now. His story inspired many of the students in the schools where he visited in Oklahoma and will encourage children in his own country, where he hopes to be a leader.