Meet Zuhura, a two-month-old baby girl from Tanzania. Zuhura lives with her mother and her grandparents, who work on a farm to support the family.
Zuhura was born with a condition called hydrocephalus, in which an excess of cerebrospinal fluid builds up, creating heavily pressurized areas in the brain.
“Zuhura’s head circumference has been gradually increasing,” says our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). “She has a fever, is not feeding well and often cries.”
As Zuhura grows and develops throughout her childhood, this condition could pose serious health complications, including vision loss and limited physical mobility.
For $775, she will receive surgery in which a shunt will be placed in her head to reroute the cerebrospinal fluid to the abdomen, where it can be more easily absorbed. “We expect that the insertion of a shunt shall stop Zuhura’s head from getting larger and prevent the loss of her sight,” says AMHF.
“I hope my baby will get better,” shares Zuhura’s mother. “I will be happy to see her grow up like other children and later on go to school and eventually support herself and others too.”