Sinzo is a cheerful girl from Tanzania. She is seven years old and is the youngest in her family of seven children. Her parents separately when she was about three years old and she has been living with her mother ever since.
Sinzo has a mass on the left side of her chest, which has caused her pain, and she shared makes her feel sad and crying when the pain starts. When she is not feeling the pain, she always wants to help her mother with home chores like washing dishes and cooking. Sinzo also wants to play with other kids, but from past experiences her mother says other kids pick on her and most of the time hurt her, so she prefers she stay home. She said she does this trying to protect her from the discrimination she is going through. Due to this her mother also decided not to take her to school since she doesn’t want her daughter to be discriminated against.
Sinzo’s condition is congenital as her mother shared that she was born with a small swelling on the left side of her chest too. The doctors at the local hospital where she was delivered advised them not to worry and give her time to grow so that they can see if there is a need for surgery. When she was two years old, her mass had grown significantly and made Sinzo really uncomfortable and caused her a lot of pain. Her mother tried to ask Sinzo’s father to find means to take her to hospital, but she shared that the father never showed any plans or took action.
Sinzo’s mother kept asking for the father’s support, but this lead to violence in their family and eventually Sinzo’s mother decided to leave her husband’s home. She left with Sinzo and moved back to her parents’ home.
Sinzo’s mother depends on small-scale farming to be able to support herself and her daughter. Sinzo’s mother says she has tried seeking help for her daughter from their local hospital but they were sent to the referral hospital and with very little income she has never been able to do so. Through our Medical Partner’s outreach team, they learned of Sinzo’s condition and helped connect her to treatment. She has now been scheduled for surgery and her mother is requesting funding support.
Sinzo’s mother says, “It hurts me to see my daughter in this state, please help fund my daughter’s treatment cost as I am not able to find such an amount of money.”