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Gilbert is still missing…
Gilbert is currently unemployed as he is virtually unable to walk. Previously, he carried out odd jobs in the automotive sector.
Since the death of his father and his mother’s chronic illness, as the eldest child he has been solely responsible for the upkeep and schooling of some of his six step-siblings, aged between 4 and 20.
He lives with his six siblings in a simple wooden hut without running water or electricity in the Kawangware slum in Nairobi.
For around 14 years, Gilbert has suffered from a chronic skin ulcer on his left lower leg, the cause of which is not entirely clear (‘non-specific’; not tuberculosis, not skin cancer, not HIV). Following a long hospital stay a few years ago, the wound was closed with a skin graft.
However, as he was the family’s breadwinner and could not afford to rest, parts of the skin were rejected and the ulcer spread once more. This completed the vicious circle of illness – injury – poverty. Gilbert suffers constant pain in his swollen leg, which he has tried to manage with painkillers that he can only afford occasionally.
Following a long period of successful outpatient dressing changes funded by Tulisa donors, and a period of inpatient care, his wound could now have been closed using plastic surgery. However, Gilbert was understandably exasperated and frustrated by the protracted treatment (which had partly prevented him from earning a living) and, against medical advice, travelled to his home village to seek peace and quiet and paid work, supposedly amongst his family. This undid the wound treatment that had been successful up to that point.
In the meantime, he presented himself again to our nurse in Nairobi, only to disappear once more. Gilbert’s time is running out – an amputation looms. Should he return, we would try to help him once more; hopefully, by then, it won’t be too late. If he comes back in time, his fate could still be turned around – he knows that!