Swazis see something in their newborn babies and sometimes name them according to that observation, such as Fortunate and Goodwill and, yes, even Welcome.
A teacher approached Harry at a clinic high in the northern mountains. He had a student named Welcome, who had something wrong with his face. “Would the doctor please look? No one else will help him,” the teacher pleaded.
This is Welcome when TLC first came to his mountaintop school. He was reticent, but his teacher spoke up for him and asked for help.
One side of the boy’s jaw was swollen. Welcome was shy and at first, did not want to talk to the doctor. He admitted he could not speak as well as he used to speak. And it hurt.
Welcome had a fast-growing tumor. It was growing so fast, in fact, that while Harry and Echo contacted doctors who might be able to help and others who might be able to pay for extensive treatment, the tumor grew larger and larger.
The VanderWals asked permission from Welcome’s mother to let him live at the TLC already-crowded house, so he would be available to leave the country immediately.
Welcome lived with the VanderWals for several weeks. Every day the VanderWals pushed and prodded for a breakthrough for travel and funding. In Johannesburg, South Africa, was the nearest hospital that could offer the surgery and chemotherapy.
Also, Welcome needed a passport, birth certificate and travel documents. Obtaining official paperwork takes time and the correct documentation, neither of which the bush boy had.
Meanwhile, the tumor continued to grow, threatening to block his airway and making it difficult for him to eat or to swallow. Finally, funding approval arrived (thanks to the Government of Swaziland) and travel documents were secured. That very hour, a TLC staff member and Welcome took off for Johannesburg.
Extensive chemotherapy was started, and then after several months, the tumor was surgically removed. Welcome was gone several months from his rural bush community where he had lived all his days. He was homesick, the city was too busy and too big, and he grew tired of life in the hospital. But he persevered. Today the tumor is gone. His family has welcomed him home, though he still has to return occasionally to Johannesburg for treatment.
Welcome’s mother welcomes him home. He had been away a long time.
He is still shy but he welcomes any opportunity to speak with gratitude about the assistance of The Luke Commission, the Government of Swaziland, and his new healthy life.
To which we say, “You’re welcome, Welcome.”