Student finds her voice

JOHANNESBURG –  “I never knew I had a disability until I went to university. When I was around people I did not know very well, I would not say anything as I would usually get a surprised or horrified look when I spoke. Because I would always remember the looks people gave me, it took me a long time to make friends at university.”

Vhutshilo Mudumela is a 19-year-old BSc Chemistry student at Wits University. Until June this year, Vhutshilo had a cleft palate, a birth defect which occurs when the inside of the mouth does not develop properly. It manifests as a large gap in the roof of the mouth, making speech almost impossible. Although this physical impairment can be repaired from three months of age, Vhutshilo only underwent the procedure a few months ago.

On June 19 this year, Professor Laurence Chait, a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Netcare Park Lane Hospital, performed the operation to close her palate and, in doing so, unleashed her confidence. Since 2002 Professor Chait and his multi-disciplinary team, with the support of the Netcare Foundation, have treated approximately 360 individuals, most of them children, to repair cleft lips and palates on a pro-bono basis.

“Most of these operations are performed on babies and young children,” Professor Chait explains. “It is inconceivable to me how Vhutshilo, who achieved distinctions in six subjects in grade 12, managed to communicate for all these years. It is important that more people know about this procedure so that they can spread the word that there is help available for cleft lip and palate sufferers and that they need not, literally, suffer in silence.”

Vhutshilo was born in the village of Nzhelele in Limpopo Province and was part of a highly supportive family and community. “My family and friends, especially my mom, always treated me as though I was normal. My primary and secondary school teachers got to understand me well, which was why it was such a huge adjustment when I came to university in Johannesburg.”

It was through a good school friend that Vhutshilo got to know Dr Tendai Singo, a general practitioner at Orkney Hospital, who was familiar with Professor Chait’s work in the plastics and reconstructive field. Now, with the help of speech therapist Pauline Ramushu, Vhutshilo is living a life she never thought possible, “I can now communicate with people whom I do not know. Before I used to be very shy but now it is easy for me to talk to people, even if I have to repeat some words,” she says.

Vhutshilo’s weekly speech therapy sessions entail articulation placement, which involve teaching her where to place her tongue when she speaks. Because of her disability, Vhutshilo used to speak through her nose; now she is starting to control her nasal emission through exercises like blocking her nose when she articulates words.

“Vhutshilo is so motivated to speak clearly, you can see this in the way that she practises all the exercises I give her at home,” says Pauline. “She has shown a remarkable improvement in just a few months. It is more difficult for older patients like her to improve upon their speech, as we are trying to change a lifetime of bad habits, but Vhutshilo has taken up the challenge and is meeting it head on.”

As for the future, Vhutshilo dreams of making the people in her village proud of her, and sees herself as someone who will change people’s lives. “The Netcare Foundation and Professor Chait brought my confidence back. I hope God blesses the professor and his team so that they can keep on doing this wonderful work,” enthuses Vhutshilo.

For more information on the cleft lip and palate programme at Netcare Park Lane Hospital, contact Professor Chait’s office 011 484 3703.