Abezash is an eight-month-old girl who comes from a family of subsistence farmers in Ethiopia. She was born with rare birth defect that left her without a hole for passing stool. Her parents have four other children, and can’t afford the $800 surgery she needs to live a normal life.
Abezash received initial medical care as an infant, but she was left with a colostomy (an artificial opening for stool on the abdomen), which clearly isn’t a long-term solution for her problem.
AMHF tells us that Abezash’s parents, “would like the surgery done so that their baby can be finally normal.” They struggle with her condition being “culturally unacceptable” and want her to have the same opportunities as their other children.