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PHYO THWE - 3 Months Old

Phyo Thwe and her mother Moe Moe San look like any other mother and daughter at first glance. It is only when you look closer you notice that 3 month old Phyo Thwe has a very large congenital growth at the base of her spine, that is making it awkward for her mother to hold her.

Moe Moe San is 32 and comes from Myawaddy on the Burma side of the Thai Burma border, opposite Tak Province in western Thailand. Her husband works making jewelry and earns around 1,500 Burmese Kyat ($1.80) per day while Moe Moe San stays at home and looks after Phyo Thwe and her other 4 year old daughter.

When Phyo Thwe was born, the growth on her lower back was around the size of a small orange, but it has kept growing in size in the 3 months of her short life. A nurse in Myawaddy told Moe Moe San that nothing could be done for her daughter in Burma. Burma has no health care system and for her to have surgery to remove the growth it would cost significantly more than the family could ever afford.

This is Phyo Thwe’s first visit to Mae Tao Clinic. When her daughter was just 12 days old, Moe Moe San crossed the border to Mae Sot, on the advice of the nurse who was present at her daughter’s birth. Medics there told her to wait until her daughter was 2 months old and if the problem was still getting worse, to come back. When she returned, medics told her to come back when the child was 3 months old. Its has now become clear that Phyo Thwe’s abnormal growth will have to be surgically removed, as the longer it is left, the bigger it gets.

Although the family live relatively nearby in Myawaddy, they have to cross the border to attend Mae Tao Clinic and can only obtain a day pass. Phyo Thwe’s father worries about his youngest daughter and knows that if she goes to Chiang Mai with her mother, he will have to work and care for his other 4 year old daughter. They cannot afford the surgery that Phyo Thwe needs in order to be able to grow up as a normal child and BCMF are looking for financial assistance to give this little girl a chance at a normal life.

While we were waiting for a translator, Moe Moe San played with her daughter, lovingly, although held slightly awkwardly to avoid pressing on the growth. Phyo Thwe smiled as I pulled faces at her, and gripped hold of my finger, presently oblivious of her condition, but as she continues to grow, she will not be able to walk, sit, or do any of the normal activities associated with a child her age. She has been referred to Mae Sot hospital, but they do not have the facilities to remove the growth. For that she will have to go to Chiang Mai Hospital, and that will cost much more than the family will ever be able to afford.

Moe Moe San looked at me and smiled at her daughter and said ‘beautiful’. She really is, and she deserves the chance to have a normal life, which she would undoubtedly get if it weren’t for her country of birth.

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