Baraka is a young boy from Tanzania. He is friendly and playful, and is the fifth born in a family of six children. Baraka has not had a chance to join school due to his parent’s financial challenges. Only three of his older siblings have been able to join school. His parents depend on small-scale farming to be able to support their family through the growing of maize, beans and vegetables. Baraka’s father also seeks manual labor jobs to be able to make an extra income and supplement with the harvest they are able to grow.
In 2016, Baraka had a small swelling on his left cheek which has been increasing in size over the years. At first in never used to be painful and his parents thought it would disappear with time. But as days went by it has kept increasing in size and Baraka has started complaining of pain. He struggles to sleep at times and even chewing has now become very challenging for Baraka.
Baraka’s family traveled to our medical partner’s care center to receive treatment. On September 25th, surgeons will remove the mass. Now, their family needs help to raise $724 to fund this procedure.
Baraka’s father shared, “Financial challenges have been the cause of us not being able to treat our son and his condition is worsening each day, please help us.”