Clad in a traditional Kerala kasavu mundu and golden shirt, little Jin sat in front of the large banana leaf with his mother Jenneh Paye, relishing the 16 colourful dishes of his first ever Onasadhya. As he savoured the last dish of the sadhya, the ‘payasam’, the news that the Liberian mother and son awaited since the past many months came in. Their journey back home is all set, his father Peter said over the phone.
Two-and-a-half-year-old Jin and his mother Jenneh had been stranded in Kochi’s Lisie Hospital since the past five months, not being able to travel back home, due to the COVID-19 restrictions. The mother and son had come thousands of miles away from their home to Kerala, as part of undergoing a surgery for Jin.
It was on March 2 that the duo reached Kerala. Jin, the second child of Peter-Jenneh, both natives of Liberia, had a congenital heart disease. He was referred to Kochi’s Lisie Hospital by a hospital at Monrovia for better medical care, a statement by the Kochi hospital says.
He was admitted to Lisie Hospital on March 6 and underwent an open heart surgery a week later. Though the family had scheduled a return journey on April 2 after the successful completion of the surgery, the lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 disrupted their plans. Ever since then, the mother and son had been staying under the care of the hospital. Jenneh had earlier reached out to the media seeking help to return to Liberia.
According to the statement from the hospital, as Sunday marked the Uthradam day of Onam, they served Jenneh and Jin a delicious Onasadhya, an integral part of Kerala’s Onam festival.
“Just after the ‘sadhya’, more sweet news came in. His father Peter called from Liberia asking the duo to get ready to leave Kerala on Thursday,” a hospital spokesperson said in the statement.
The duo will leave for Mumbai from Kochi and from there, will leave for Liberia.
Watch Jin in the Kochi hospital: