“I wish I could go to school. My dream is to someday work in our village dispensary as a nurse,” says Asha, a 12-year-old from Tanzania.
Asha severely burned her right hand in an accident over a year ago. As the burn healed, scars formed that caused the skin on her wrist and hand to become stiff and inflexible. Known as a burn scar contracture, due to this condition Asha cannot use her right hand. She cannot attend school or perform her daily chores.
Asha, the youngest of four, lives with her grandmother. Her grandmother works hard as a casual laborer at nearby farms to provide for her grandchildren. However, she does not have the means to pay for the $505 surgery Asha needs to regain mobility in her right hand.
The contracture release surgery would release the tension from the damaged skin tissue and help Asha’s wrist and arm heal properly with casting. Let’s help Asha return to school so she can pursue her dreams of becoming a nurse!