Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania
www.ccbrt.or.tz/about-us/
MISSION

Set up in 1994, Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT) was established as a Community Based Rehabilitation programme searching for people with cataract in Dar es Salaam. Since then we have grown to become the largest indigenous provider of disability services in Tanzania. We are a locally registered NGO aiming to empower people with disabilities and their families, improve their quality of life, and ensure access to medical and rehabilitative treatment. Committed to preventing disabilities wherever possible, CCBRT is also engaged in extensive maternal and newborn healthcare (MNHC) activities.

IMPACT
8
Patients
1
Countries
66
Donors
Patients at Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania

Meet Jairun, a two-year-old girl from Tanzania. Not long ago, Jairun was burned on her hands by hot porridge. Her parents took her to get treatment in their hometown, but Jairun did not fully recover, and she cannot extend her fingers. After being referred to our medical partner, Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), Jairun and her mother traveled by boat to reach their hospital. There, Jairun was evaluated and was told she could receive surgery. The family, however, cannot afford the procedure. To assist the family, CCBRT is requesting $1,036 to pay for the treatment, labor costs, Jairun's hospital stay, and her medications. She is scheduled to receive surgery for her burns on March 3. With treatment, Jairun will be able to have a full and productive life. Her mother says, "It is important to correct her fingers at this early age. I am well aware that this will affect her confidence and self esteem, especially as she grows into a young woman.”

$1,036raised
Fully funded

Two-year-old Sylvester lives with his parents in their single-room home in Tanzania. Because of the limited space, the room serves multiple purposes for the family. One day, as his mother was preparing food, Sylvester moved closer to the pot and inserted his arm into the boiling water. “I quickly grabbed him and rushed him to the nearby dispensary clinic and then the district hospital," Sylvester's mother shares. "When the wound recovered, he couldn't extend his fingers." As the skin on Sylvester’s hand healed from the burn injury, the scar thickened and tightened, forming a contracture that limits movement of his hand and fingers. The family decided to visit our medical partner, Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT). "One neighbor who once was treated at CCBRT advised us to come to CCBRT's Disability Hospital," Sylvester's mother continues. "Sylvester was examined, but we couldn't afford for him to be treated. I am a homemaker, and my husband is a laborer.” Sylvester is scheduled to undergo surgery to release the contractures on his hand on March 6. His family needs help raising $1,036 to pay for his operation, one month of hospital care, food, medicine, medical supplies, and dressing changes. With treatment at CCBRT, Sylvester has the opportunity to succeed at school, feed himself, and have a full and productive life. “I will be glad to see Sylvester’s fingers corrected so he can hold a pen properly, among other things he loves to do with his hands," says his mother. "I thank God for everything. He has heard my cry.’’

$1,036raised
Fully funded

Godwin is 15 months old and is a happy toddler. He lives with his mother in Tanzania. His mother is a road-side food vendor. She says, "I remember the day I was at work and received a call saying that my son had fallen on hot food. I was shocked and very scared. I quickly rushed him to a nearby local dispensary." After two months of treatment at the health facility, Godwin was referred to our medical partner, Comprehensive Community Based Rehabilitation in Tanzania (CCBRT), for the scar contracture release. The first time they came to CCBRT to seek treatment, the surgeon examined Godwin and informed his mother what the cost of a procedure would be. "I could not afford it, so I went back to look for money. I would not like him to grow up with any deformity at all," says Godwin's mother. But then she received a call from CCBRT informing her that Godwin’s burn may be treated with support from Watsi. He is now scheduled for surgery on March 1. Our medical partner is requesting $1,036 to help fund Godwin's treatment. CCBRT doctors are optimistic that Godwin's surgery will change his future and allow him to live a full and productive life. "I will be very glad if my son is treated and gets rid of this treatable disability," says Godwin's mother.

$1,036raised
Fully funded