“Joshua was not lucky to go to school. He herds his father’s cattle in Tanzania, but now it is getting difficult to walk long distance due to knocked knees,” a condition known as genu valgus. Joshua is now 17 years old and our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us that, “the condition has affected his gait and ability to run fast. He sometimes complains of pain on the knees.”
Joshua likes to play football with the friends in his village even though running is difficult for him. Although AMHF shares, “his father has been working hard and he is now a driver earning a little more aside from livestock keeping,” it is difficult for him to support his large family of three wives and many children. Joshua is the fourth of his mother’s five children and his parents cannot afford the cost of his surgery. Without it, however, Joshua is at risk of developing early osteoarthritis.
With $940, Joshua will undergo surgery to have his bones reset so that his knees to do not hit when he walks or runs. This operation will mean that he is not in pain when he is tending to his family’s cattle, and means that he will have an easier time playing soccer if he one day goes to school with his friends, as he wishes.
