THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU to everyone who donated to make this trip happen.
This video chronicles my trip to Cote D'Ivoire to pick up six year old Lamine to take him to the United States for surgery. Lamine was born with his intestine growing on the outside of his abdomen (you may be able to see it in the video). He wears a diaper and cloth wrap around his torso and has a catheter connected to a bag for urine that is held in his pocket. In addition, although his organs have rerouted excrement and urine, he has to wear a traditional diaper as he sometimes leaks there as well.
Needless to say, this is a very combersome and uncomfortable way to live, especially as a child. Lamine hasn't been able to go to school or enjoy a normal life like his brothers and sisters and as a result, his shame and isolation have made him very shy and withdrawn, as you can probaly tell from the video. However, Lamine has an incredible depth and spirit and I'm confident, as are his doctors here in the US, that he will recover very well from the reconstructive surgery and grow up to be a healthy, happy, amazing person.
When I got to Cote D'Ivoire, I met with Lamine and his family so we could get to know eachother and his parents could give me instructions on how to care for him on our journey. As you can see from the video, Lamine comes from an impoverished ghetto in Cote D'Ivoire and hasn't been exposed to many modern conveniences and has had less exposure to white people so he was pretty overwhelmed by the whole situation.
Lamine only spoke two words to me during our 24 hour trip to the US which were "Todd" and "Bisqui", referring to the cookies I bought for him, but I spoke French to him and he would nod or shake his head. Although we didn't communicate very much verbally, Lamine and I quickly became comfortable with eachother and formed a pretty strong bond as he came to have blind trust in me and I assumed loving and complete responsibility for him. Eventually, Lamine would only sleep on the plane by curling up in my lap and he wouldn't let go of my hand whenever we walked anywhere. By the end of the trip, and after many tedious and precarious diaper changes in small airplane and airport bathrooms, Lamine and I both cried when we separated.
Lamine will be staying in Ohio for the time it takes him to have surgery at Cincinatti Children's Hospital and recover. I've been staying in touch with the foster family he's staying with and will follow his progress.
Thanks again for helping Lamine come to the US so he can enjoy the healthy life he deserves.
OVERALL GOAL
My name is Todd Grinnell. I'm an actor from Los Angeles and I volunteer for a non-profit organization called the Next Right Thing which connects children in medical need from around the world with people who can help them.
Click this link to learn more about The Next Right Thing. www.thenextrightthing.org