Help Simão feed his family
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My name is Leslie De Morais. Together with my husband, we have been missionaries to South America and Africa over the past 30 years. We currently live in Rio de Janeiro and maintain strong ties with churches and Christians in Portuguese speaking Africa. We knew of Simão's affliction and very difficult situation and decided to start this GoFundMe for him and his family. Since Sim'ao is unable to work, the funds will go for food and daily needs of the family. Thank you for considering sharing your blessings with him.
To have a clearer idea of the suffering he faces click the link below. Warning: the extent of his illness is graphic and some viewers may become unsettled.
Simão's Affliction https://docs.google.com/document/d/11ptSf4YgGvGFx2Izj-VLZFWqpooU2bm3Tw7IDENNqlw/edit?usp=sharing
Here is his story.
My name is Simão Joaquim Cabinda Cabeto, I was born in Malanje-Angola in 1996. At the age of 17, I moved to Luanda (the capital of Angola), I stayed there from 2013 to 2017, but at the end of 2017, I suddenly started to feel a strong pain in my spine, at the time I had received news that the person I was dating was pregnant. My family speculated, saying that my girlfriend did something to me.
After a while, the pain increased and I had my first appointment at a medical center where I took medication which, instead of improving, made me feel worse, the pain intensified that I couldn't lie down to sleep for a while, so I started sleeping seated for many nights.
In 2018 I received the news that my daughter had been born, but because of the illness, I was unable to be there to see my daughter. I went back to the hospital in Zango (Viana) where they gave me a prescription for medication, but I could not buy it due to lack of money, the pills were costly. Then I had another appointment at the General Hospital, they told me I had to do physiotherapy. So I started doing physiotherapy and medication in a Chinese clinic, but without positive results.
During this time my body began to lose strength, I was having great difficulty walking but I had to do that by supporting myself against the walls. That year, my body only allowed me to sit and because of that, it started to develop wounds on my buttocks.
I returned to Malanje to undergo traditional treatment, but that also didn't produce any results. I returned to Luanda again and started taking another conventional medication and even so, the disease did not go away, I went back and forth from Lunada to Malanje, Malanje to Luanda in search of a cure, and still, nothing worked. I started using a cane or a walking stick to walk. At the end of 2019, my body started to lose strength completely.
The wounds on my lower back and buttocks started to rot. I was no longer able to move and because of that, no hospital wanted to accept me as a patient, so the family decided to start traditional treatments again and also hired a nurse from the military hospital to provide home care. At this stage, because of the pain, I started to faint.
The neighbors, seeing what was happening, had a negative influence on the nurse who was providing support, he didn't continue supporting me because I could die at any moment (the neighbors said), and if that happened, the family could accuse him, so the nurse left. My brother, who is a taxi driver, started seeking information from some doctors and he himself started giving me medication.
At this moment I am completely paralyzed by simply moving my head and another wound has opened in my chest. But during that time I never stopped believing in God. It was during this period that I met sister Ilsa (a disciple of the international Church of Christ) who was coming from Luanda to Malanje to visit her family. She, along with my sister-in-law, paid me a visit and we talked a lot. Since then, even though Ilsa had returned to Luanda, we were always in contact. Ilsa used to call me every day at 5 am to pray with me. That was very special. One day Ilsa told me about Bible studies, I had no idea how this would happen as she was in Luanda and I was in Malanje but by faith, I accepted.
While I was waiting, Ilsa told me about another brother from the international Church of Christ who was being transferred to Malanje for work and that this brother would also come to give me Bible studies. And it happened as Ilsa had said and on May 27, 2023, I was baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. On this day of my baptism, 17 disciples came from Luanda to witness my baptism which took place on a Saturday and Sunday, they held a service at my house with my family.
I currently have a 6-year-old daughter.
I live with my parents who are peasants and with my brother and two sisters in Malanje and they have been taking care of me for the last 6 years of my illness, feeding me, bathing me, changing my clothes, dressing me, etc.
Organizer
Leslie De Morais
Organizer
Atlanta, GA