Kamakune is 23 years old, and a single mother of a two-year-old son living in Uganda. She lost both her parents when she was young, and was brought up by her grandmother who later also passed on.
About three years ago Kamakune started feeling pain in the upper abdomen. Later she noticed a swelling in the same region. She feels a lot of pain when strained, and is unable to bend and walk fast. She reported her condition to a government hospital, in which Kamakune had a scan and was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia.
Upon being diagnosed, she was given medicine and an appointment for surgery. She has gone back to the same hospital three times but is yet to get treated. “I have lived with a hernia for a long time and I don’t have money to pay for my surgery,” she shares. Recently, as she was narrating her story, a friend told her about the Watsi program at Virika Hospital.
Umbilical hernias occur when tissues bulge through the weak spot near the belly button, due to the stomach muscles not completely joining after birth. If not treated, Kamakune may suffer intestinal obstruction, incarceration and/or strangulation.
Treatment will cost $220, and will consist of hernia repair surgery to push the tissue back through the stomach wall, as well as a 14-day stay in the hospital.
Kamakune owns a small retail shop for salt and soap, where she gets money to care for her baby and for her personal needs. After surgery she hopes to continue working in her shop and to have it a little more stocked, since she believes she will be able to travel and purchase items as well as be able to lift them.