“Dina, a 16-year-old girl from Tanzania, is the fifth-born in a family of eight children,” our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us. “She barely managed to complete the last year of her primary school education due to the condition of her legs.”
Dina has a condition commonly known as knocked knees. Despite the pain, she “did well in her final exams and was chosen to continue with secondary education,” continues AMHF. “Dina had no problems with her legs at all until two years ago when her limbs slowly started to bow inwards causing her to knock her knees when walking.”
Dina currently walks with difficulty, and is unable to run. “She complains of feeling pain on the knees after walking a long distance,” AMHF explains. “If not treated, Dina will be at risk of developing osteoarthritis at an early age.”
Dina will need surgery to treat her knocked knees, but her parents are small-scale farmers and can only afford supporting their family’s basic needs. “Dina’s mother also buys and sells charcoal, but still what they earn is not enough to cover the cost of corrective surgery which their daughter needs,” says AMHF.
$940 will enable Dina to undergo surgery to correct the alignment of her legs so that they no longer hit one another when she walks and runs. This will eliminate her discomfort and prevent her from prematurely developing osteoarthritis.
“My wish is to one day become a secondary school teacher,” Dina said.