“Mourine is wrapped up in warm clothing and she peeps out once in a while to catch a glimpse of who is talking,” says our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), as they speak with Mourine’s mother. “Her innocent bright eyes display hope for tomorrow and urge to see more of this world.”
Mourine, an eight-month-old girl from Kenya, has a posterior encephalocele, a rare condition in which the bones of the skull do not close completely. This creates a gap through which cerebral spinal fluid, brain tissue, and the membrane covering the brain can protrude into a sac-like formation.
“Her mother, who is a single mom, has to endure all the questioning eyes directed at her daughter and the whispers whenever she moves, and this greatly disheartens her,” continues AMHF.
The swelling causes Mourine great pain when touched, and if left untreated Mourine may experience mental and growth retardation, seizures, and uncoordinated movement of voluntary muscles that could affect rudimentary skills such as walking and reaching.
“Mourine is the only child to her mother, who was abandoned when she was pregnant,” shares AMHF. They live with Mourine’s grandparents in Central Kenya, and the grandparents’ subsistence farming supports the family. “All they want is the best for their little angel—for her to grow up normally with no deterrents whatsoever.”
Mourine’s family needs assistance in raising the $780 that will cover Mourine’s encephalocele repair surgery. During this procedure, doctors will perform surgery to place the protruding tissues and cerebral spinal fluid back into the skull and close the opening. “The encephalocele repair will prevent infection and desiccation of brain tissue,” says AMHF.
Let’s help give Mourine the chance to grow up healthy.