The Gift of Speech

There are many mediums through which we communicate, but our most frequent, and arguably most powerful, channel of communication is speech.  Some patients onboard the Africa Mercy are discovering this power for the first time. 

Maxillofacial operations are an integral part of the Mercy Ships 2009 Field Service in Benin.  Many maxillofacial patients, particularly those with cleft lips/palates, have spent their lives communicating with impeded speech. 

Impediments can range in severity from difficulty producing a few sounds to a complete inability to form understandable words.    Living with a speech impediment is embarrassing and frustrating.  Often children are not sent to school because they can’t properly communicate. 

Surgically correcting the facial anatomy is the first step to restoring speech.  However, even after the facial anatomy is corrected, many still have difficulties speaking.  Post-operative speech therapy is therefore needed to retrain the mouth and throat to correctly form sounds.  

Sally Peet from the UK has been a licensed speech therapist since 1994.  Since 2004, she and her family have served with Mercy Ships.  Currently, she provides speech therapy for patients onboard the Africa Mercy. 

 “I work with the maxillofacial patients, mainly the cleft lips and the cleft palates.  However, any surgery that’s interrupted the facial muscles may have a need for therapy.  For example, when a patient has a large facial tumour removed, their skin and lips become flaccid, affecting their speech and their ability to control saliva.  I work with them, as well as the cleft lip patients, to make sure their lips are strong.” said Peet. 

Patients with speech difficulties are referred post-operatively to Sally Peet by the Africa Mercy nursing staff.  She works individually with each patient, evaluating their needs and providing exercises to strengthen weakened muscles.  Also, she encourages the proper usage of restored facial anatomy.   

“Many patients have found a way of ineffectively talking around huge malformations and have spoken incorrectly for years.  The initial goal is to ensure the anatomy where the surgery has taken place will now be functional,” Peet added.   

Peet works with patients throughout their time on the ward.  When they leave the hospital, they come back to the Africa Mercy for outpatient appointments – sometimes for  several months after their surgery.     

Peet describes a memorable patient she worked with for over three months during the 2008 Field Service in Liberia:  “There was a beautiful little girl with a cleft lip and palate.  She spoke without using any constants sounds, and you could not understand her when she talked.” 

“She and her mum worked incredibly hard in therapy.  By the time we finished, she was totally intelligible and making every sound correctly.  Her mother said all her aunties in her village were dancing because now, not only does she look beautiful, she sounds beautiful.”

Providing speech therapy is just one example of Mercy Ships commitment to holistic care for patients through the partnership of various professional skills. 

Sally Peet is thrilled to be partnering with the Africa Mercy’s surgical and nursing staff to provide hope and healing to the world’s forgotten poor.  “I love providing speech therapy.  It’s great to be working in my profession onboard the Africa Mercy,” she concluded.