Shawali was identified through the outreach program at Arusha Lutheran Christian Medical Centre (ALMC) when his mother presented him with a “problem with his feet.” He has been diagnosed with bilateral club feet, which means that both of his feet are twisted out of shape or position.
Shawali, a 20-month-old boy, is the fourth born child to subsistence farmers from Tanzania. Education is important to his parents, and his older siblings all attend school.
Because his condition makes it difficult for him to walk properly, Shawali requires treatment to straighten them out and restore him to proper mobility. Shawali’s parents need assistance to cover their son’s $1,160 procedure. He will have plaster casts on his feet and then an operation to straighten them.
After his operation, Shawali will recover at the Plaster House, which is a facility in Tanzania that houses and rehabilitates children after corrective surgery.
It is expected that Shawali’s feet will achieve full correction and that he will never know that he was born with the club foot condition. His mother tells us, “I hope that Shawali will look normal and go to school like his siblings.”