Five-month-old Abdulkerim loves playing and laughing in the home he shares with his parents and seven siblings in Ethiopia.
“Abdulkerim was born with a birth defect called anorectal malformation,” our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us. This defect is characterized by the absence of an anal opening and an inability to pass stool.
“Abdulkerim developed a bowel obstruction because of this condition,” explains AMHF. “An emergency colostomy was [performed] when he was three days old.” During the colostomy procedure, doctors pulled an end of the colon through a cut in the abdominal wall and sutured it in place to create an opening for passing stool.
To complete his treatment, baby Abdulkerim needs two additional operations. The first surgery is an anorectoplasty to create an anal opening, followed by a colostomy closure three months later.
Abdulkerim’s father, a farmer, is the sole provider for the family. “I decided to sell the one cow I have because nothing is more important than my child,” he shares. “The [other] hospital [couldn’t] do the surgery because what I had was not enough. I was broke and worried.”
$1,500 covers the costs of the final two surgical procedures and inpatient care, including labs, imaging, pain medicine, and antibiotics. “We expect that after an anorectoplasty followed by a colostomy closure, Abdulkerim will be able to pass stool on his own,” says AMHF.
“Coming [to AMHF] and seeing the hope through this sponsorship program, I am now full of hope, praying for the opportunity,” says Abdulkerim’s father.