Meet Stephania, a three-year-old who can light up any room with her big brown eyes. She lives in Tanzania with her parents, older sister, and her favorite teddy bear which she carries around everywhere and even sleeps with—they're inseparable! Her parents work hard to care for their family, especially for their youngest daughter. Her mother says, "It was a bit difficult for my husband to accept Stephania because he badly wanted to have a baby boy after getting a baby girl," but she explains that "as time went by he has come to love her so much."
Stephania has Hirschsprung's disease, a condition that causes her to have constant stomachaches and makes passing stool without the help of bowel irrigation impossible. Her mother, a hotel waitress, and her father, a sales clerk at an electronics store, have spent their savings taking Stephania to the hospital for years. Now, they are unable to afford her surgery.
An abdominoperineal pull through and colostomy closure will cost $1,200 and allow Stephania to eat freely and have healthy bowel movements. Her mother says, "all we need is for our baby to be healthy, as happy as her sister, and be able to go to school.” Let's help Stephania get treatment so she can wear a big smile on her first day of school!