Abduselam is a playful two-year-old boy from Ethiopia. His mother is a home-maker who lost her parents when she was a child, and was brought up by relatives. She left Ethiopia at the age of fifteen, worked in Saudi Arabia for twelve years, and built the house where she and her family currently reside using the money she earned abroad. She built an additional three rooms that she presently rents out, and uses the income to support her family’s basic needs. Abduselam’s father farms in the family’s ancestral land, and his parents live together with his wife and children in one household. For fun, Abduselam enjoys playing in the mud with other with other children in the neighborhood.
Abduselam was born with hypospadias, a condition in which the urinary opening is not at the usual location, causing urinary dysfunction. Abduselam was born while his family was living as internally displaced persons during the war in Tigray, and his mother noticed the condition when he was three months old. She took him to local hospitals and he was put on long treatment waiting lists. While waiting for her son to receive treatment, Abduselam’s mother heard that another child with the same condition had received treatment at our medical partner’s care center, BethanyKids Myungsung Christian Medical Center (BKMCM). She managed to get connected to a social worker at BKMCM, and a relative paid for their transportation to the hospital. Abduselam’s mother is presently worried, but is hopeful that her child will receive the medical treatment he needs. Without surgical correction, Abduselam will continue to experience uncomfortable symptoms, and is at risk for infertility.
Fortunately, Abduselam is scheduled to undergo corrective surgery on June 25th. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $1,293 to cover the cost of his procedure and care.
Abduselam’s mother says, “I hope he will get the surgery that he needs and fully recover, so that he can have a normal childhood.”