Playful Esther

To the Open Heart International ward nurses, Esther Izibyose is known as the baby who plays with their phones, blows kisses, and holds the radio to her ear.

She is also recovering from an operation to fix a hole in the wall separating the two lower chambers of her heart, known as a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD).

Esther is almost two years old and lives four hours away with her three siblings in Gisenyi.

Her mum Monique Manijena said Esther’s ailments included coughing and breathing issues.

“I can already see a difference after only days of the operation,” Monique says.

“I am happy her heart has been corrected.”