Catholics pitch in to save girl's life

In early April, seven-year-old Penuel Samson and her grandmother, Modesta, came to Albany from Tanzania to chase a faint hope: that surgeons at Albany Medical Center would be able to mend the defect between two chambers in Penuel's heart -- a hole that prevented adequate amounts of oxygenated blood from circulating in her system.

The condition, known as a tetralogy of fallot (TET), occurs in five out of 10,000 infants and is not treatable in Tanzania.

"In this country, if a TET is discovered, it's corrected almost immediately. In the developing world, TET is a death sentence by the teen years," said Fred Carvin, a past district governor of Rotary International District 7190.

Through the efforts of a Troy priest, a Cohoes Catholic couple, a cast of dozens and the local Rotary Gift of Life program, Penuel has returned to Tanzania with a normal heart -- and a new lease on life.

Link number one

But that new lease took years to develop. It began in 2001 when a set of outdated reference books was donated by St. Patrick's School in Troy (which closed in 2002) to the Lansingburgh Rotary Club, which passes them on to children in a developing country.

The parish's administrator, Rev. David Jones, MM, is a member of the Rotary and knew of the perfect recipient for the gift: the Paroma School in Musoma, Tanzania.

As a Maryknoll priest, he had visited the property and watched the genesis of the school. He knew that the headmistress, Gaudentia Kabaka, could use the help.

Link number two

At about the same time, two parishioners from St. Bonaventure's Church in Speigletown approached Father Jones with a proposition. Bob and Terry Kelvington wanted to help a student in an overseas mission attend school; Father Jones contacted Ms. Kabaka, who chose Penuel for the scholarship.

When he went to Musoma to conduct audits of Maryknoll projects there, Ms. Kabaka took him to see Penuel, whose congenital condition kept her frame small and her energy level quite low.

"I asked why she was so small and didn't seem to have much energy," Father Jones recalled. "They told me she had a heart defect" and that nothing could be done.

Link three

But Father Jones sent out emails asking others for ideas. One of the recipients was Mr. Carvin, who has been affiliated with the Albany Gift of Life program since its founding in 1992.

The program helps children from developing countries receive life-saving treatments and surgeries by paying for their airfare and bringing them to American hospitals.

"I said, if they could provide the medical records, I would submit [her case] to the doctors at Albany Med," said Mr. Carvin. "Penuel was a charming little girl. She's going to be a heartbreaker someday. She was very small for her age; I would guess she wasn't more than 30 pounds."

Hospital help 

Surgeons at Albany Medical Center perform the operations for a nominal fee to cover basic costs related to the procedure. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists and technicians donate their time and volunteer their services to the program, which hosts three or four children every year. The children spend their recovery period in the hospital and at Ronald McDonald House.

To qualify, Penuel made repeated visits to Tanzanian hospitals to secure the proper tests and records so that Albany Med doctors could see if the surgery was feasible. Both Tanzanian and American doctors were constantly frustrated by inconclusive tests and the lack of a family medical history.

"You can imagine her grandmother and all her relatives through this; she'd gone to four different hospitals," said Father Jones. "She went through it all with a very cheerful attitude. She was happy, accepted all the tests and never complained about any of it."

Finally, the doctors decided that "even without all the information, it'd be best to spend the money and bring this child in," Father Jones said.

Penuel's grandmother, Modesta, was a "profile in courage" through the entire ordeal, Mr. Carvin noted, adding that the operation turned out to be a success. "She's going to be a normal kid."

Links re-linked

During their stay in the Albany area, Penuel and Modesta visited St. Patrick's parish and the Lansingburgh Rotarians. They sent her home with suitcases full of clothes, toys and other gifts.

"There were people who went out of their way, people who had no knowledge of this child other than a fact that a couple in Cohoes had started supporting her," said Father Jones. "They went out of their way to make someone they'd never heard of feel welcome. It was their gift of love."

Mrs. Kelvington said it was "amazing" to meet Penuel. Since the surgery, the Kelvingtons and the Samsons have kept in touch. She is hoping a Glens Falls art gallery will put together an exhibition of children's art from the Paroma School.

"I feel that all this has happened because Penuel has something special waiting in her life," she said. "We have 12 grandchildren, and now we have another one. This tiny person touched so many lives. She wouldn't have made it [in Tanzania]. Now she'll make her eighth birthday -- and go on from there."

(For more information about the Rotary Gift of Life Program, call Fred Carvin at 793-4831.)

(5/27/04)