A headteacher who had to quit his job after a melon-size tumour grew on his face was greeted with open arms as he returned to the classroom after receiving transformational surgery from charity Mercy Ships.
Grandfather Auguste, 64, spent six long years away from his school in Senegal after the tumour forced him to leave as it expanded from a spot to a large growth over 13 years. Auguste found the tumour distracted his students from lessons, but he became a recluse after quitting the job he loved so much. His neighbours treated him badly, fearing his condition was contagious.
“All of my activities have stopped. I don’t really do anything,” said Auguste.
Past retirement age anyway, it was obvious to everyone who met him that Auguste was not teaching for the money. He had sought for decades to instil “the intellectual capacity to be able to rule the country” in his students, viewing each one as “a person who will be someone tomorrow.”
Auguste searched unsuccessfully far and wide for years to receive surgical care. Until the day he heard that the international hospital ship charity Mercy Ships had come to the port of Dakar, only 10 miles from his home, in 2023. American otolaryngology (ear, nose, and throat) surgeon Dr. Josh Wiederman met and operated on Auguste during his first week volunteering for Mercy Ships.
He said: “This type of condition is seen in high-income countries like the United States but in very early stages. With routine dental examination X-rays, these types of lesions are picked up before they really can be seen from the outside.”
Wiederman explained that although Auguste only noticed the tumour when he was 51.
“Auguste would have developed it somewhere in the second or third decade of his life, and it comes from the enamel of the tooth within the mandible, and it will slowly grow over time, but you can think of it like blowing up a balloon,” Wiederman. “There’s a lot of resistance early on, and then at a certain point, that resistance is overcome, and it starts to expand quickly with little force.”
By the time he boarded the ship, Auguste was experiencing many physical repercussions from his tumour. Eating textured foods had become difficult, and he could only speak out of the corner of his mouth. The sheer mass of the tumour also made it difficult for him to rest his head comfortably, so he was sleep-deprived. Although the condition seemed to have plateaued, Wiederman did not take this stability for granted.
It was on the Global Mercy that Auguste saw his face in the mirror tumour-free for the first time in 13 years. Six weeks later, Auguste was discharged from the floating hospital, and he went home to his wife Claire and their adult children and young grandchildren.
Walking freely around the neighbourhood, he was greeted with happiness and disbelief.
Starting his next chapter, Auguste saw a world of possibilities. He was now dreaming of opening new schools “in order to reduce unemployment” where needed across Senegal. “As soon as I am healed,” he said.
But when Auguste returned to his elementary school for the first time in six years, he found he was exactly where he needed to be.
Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye, who succeeded Auguste as headmaster, said, “We’re very happy to have him back at school because we didn’t know what to do; we’ve waited so long. The most vulnerable kids—he used to go to their homes to help them. He was giving home classes for free.”
Auguste found that nobody had taken up his mantle of going above and beyond to be “in constant contact with the parents,” so the kids who needed more motivation were dropping out of school.
“When I went back, I noticed that the school was very quiet,” Auguste said. “The number of students has decreased. There’s no longer any atmosphere.”
Auguste still has his sights set on opening other schools, starting with one in Senegal’s second-biggest city of Touba.
For Auguste, his calling is clear.
“I’m only here to help underprivileged and orphaned children—to teach them if I have the means,” he stated.
