Amare is a brave, social young boy who is smart and good at communicating. He hails from Ethiopia and loves to play with his friends. He shared that he loves innovating new things - like making a tuk tuk and a mobile toy with metal wire and wood. Amare loves to study and read books. He also loves to help his mom at home with cleaning and making stew and coffee. Amare is the third child of his parents. His mom lost ten children, both in her womb and after they were born. She was heartbroken when she conceived Amare as she thought that he wouldn’t grow up.
When Amare’s mother gave birth to him, she was traveling by foot to a marketplace and she gave birth on the road. She shared that she saw he had a wound and was scared that he would die. She took him to Sekota hospital. The doctor told her that the disease was curable by surgery and that he would live with care. He referred them to another hospital and she brought Amare there when he was a seven month-old baby. She was informed that he was too young for the complex procedure. She brought him again when he was two years-old. She got the same response, to come back when he is older.
Then, Amare’s mother lost hope in modern medicine. She told us that she started to go to church and apply holy water to her baby. But his condition stayed with him. She got sad and, in her words, “left it all to God”.
Both mom and dad are traditional farmers. They harvest once in a year because they get rain only in one season. They couldn’t use irrigation since there was no river near their field. They travel for thirty minutes to get underground spring water for drinking and cooking. They have one cow for their milk consumption. For these reasons, they can’t afford the medical bills for their son.
Amare was born with a congenital anomaly called bladder exstrophy. That is an abnormally open bladder from the front. His bladder is open to the air, which results in leaking urine directly to his abdomen. He has suffered from pain from the irritation of the bladder, infection & smell from the continuous urinary leakage. Mom is very much worried and concerned because of his condition.
His required treatment is called a mainz pouch procedure which is diverting his urination to another opening & making a pouch bladder from bowel. His surgery is scheduled for March 7th. His family needs help raising the $1,500 to fund the surgery.
Amare said, “My friends from school and the neighborhood say I smell. I felt bad about it and tried to stay away from my friends. I like playing with my friends but nowadays what I prefer is to study at home alone. Or to be with my mother and help her with work.”
Amare’s mom said, “My neighbors talk, so when there is holiday party at home I let him stay at the outside kitchen. If there is clean cloth, he [can] change and mingle in the party but mostly he stays away. Amare said to me ‘If I couldn’t get treatment and heal while you are alive I will never heal and survive.’ Because I don’t have any hope with my siblings and relatives. This hurt me a lot. I feel like I don’t have power to heal him or to provide him medical treatment.”