Meet Maria, an 18-year-old young woman from Tanzania. According to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), Maria is the second oldest in a family of four.
A few years ago, Maria was involved in an accident that left her with a burn contracture on her right wrist and fingers–a condition that results after a burn heals. Contractures cause the skin to tighten, preventing movement.
AMHF shares, “it is a norm in [her] family that each child learns how to cook and every evening one of the children will have a duty to prepare dinner. [The night of the accident] was Maria’s brother’s turn to cook, but he was running late.”
To help her brother, Maria decided to start the fire for him. As AMHF explains, “it is something which she had done many times, but that day her long sleeve blouse accidentally caught fire and the material stuck to her skin.”
A neighbor heard her cries for help and rushed her to the hospital. After several months, the large wound healed, but left Maria with a contracture that limits her from using her right hand. Due to this injury, schooling has become a challenge.
Maria’s parents–both small-scale farmers–produce a modest income and are unable to support the costs of her treatment.
With $550, Maria will receive surgery to treat the contracture on her right wrist and fingers. To help her hand heal normally, Maria will also receive corrective splints.
Maria will spend six weeks at Plaster House–a surgical rehabilitation program that specializes in helping children recover from complex operations. While there, Maria will receive intensive physiotherapy sessions. With surgery and physiotherapy, Maria will regain use of her hand.
Maria tells AMHF, “if I can move just two of my fingers, I would like to learn how to tailor clothes and start my own tailoring business.”
