Bahati is in preschool. He enjoys drawing and coloring pictures. His father works at a timber company and his mother sells produce from her small vegetable garden.
Bahati likes to play with the other children in school, but experiences pain in his leg and sometimes cannot run. Our medical partner, the African Mission Healthcare Foundation, has diagnosed him with chronic osteomyelitis of the right tibia, which means that his right shin bone is infected. Bahati’s doctors report, “he has pus discharging sinuses below his right knee. He sometimes walks with difficulty. Bahati is at risk of pathological fracture of the tibia, if not treated.”
His mother tells us, “I am very afraid that if Bahati doesn’t receive treatment soon, my son will end up losing his leg. He is so full of life and has opportunities for a better future; we wouldn’t like to see Bahati held back in life because of his leg.”
The surgery to remove the infected bone portions, plus antibiotics, costs $1000. Bahati’s doctors add, “the treatment will control infection of the tibia, allow healing of the bone and stop [the] pus drenching sinus. Bahati will be able to concentrate on his studies; play and have normal growth.”
