The Affero Blog

Why We Love Cure International – Uganda 1

By Peter Rees in News

12Jul, 2010

Marc and I had an eventful start to the journey missing planes, planes delayed, a camera going missing, sleep deprivation and we can’t forget poor old Lucas whose meal on the plane came without chicken (!), lol.

We began our journey at Kampala, travelled to Jinja and further North to Mbale. There had been a land slide two weeks previously and a one road was slow going as they were repairing the bridge.

The roads are crazy! Pot holes everywhere. and if the road is too smooth they add speed humps to slow you down, seriously. There were people selling stuff on the side of the roads like fruit salad kebabs, meat kebabs, that looked like they were cooked many hours ago and plantain which is a raw banana cooked. They are mad crazy about plantain.

We visited an organisation called “Cure International“, which treat children mostly with Hydrocephalus.It impacted me hugely. We saw many kids who would be dead unless they were treated here.

I was so thankful to God that my children are so healthy and I was a little overwhelmed by seeing kids who looked really sick.

These kids with Hydrocephalus grow really large heads because fluid has built up in their heads.Hydrocephalus is caused by an over-accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).Commonly referred to as “water on the brain,” this condition is caused by a blockage of the brain’s ventricles, leading to a disruption in the outflow of CSF. If left untreated, this condition can lead to significant physical and developmental problems and, more than half of the time, death.

Hydrocephalus is an enormous problem among infants in the developing world. Due to high birth rates, the lack of quality health care and tremendous poverty leading to issues such as malnutrition, the incidence of neonatal infection is higher in poor countries, which in turn leads to higher rates of hydrocephalus. In Uganda alone, over 2,000 new cases of hydrocephalus are reported each year.

Traditionally, children suffering from hydrocephalus are treated using a shunt system to drain the accumulated fluid off the brain and out of the body. The shunt procedure has been in use for well over 60 years; however, even in a developed setting, there is a 50 percent chance that the shunt will fail at some point in the life of the patient. Combined with their propensity for infection, shunts are not the best option for children living in the developing world.

CURE Children’s Hospital of Uganda utilises an alternative noninvasive procedure for the treatment of this condition. Developed by the hospital’s former medical director, Dr. Benjamin Warf, this procedure combines an endoscopic third ventriculostomy (ETV) with a choroid plexus cauterization (CPC), to provide a safer, more sustainable solution than the use of a shunt.
More than 3,000 infants have been treated at the hospital using this procedure.
They think it may be caused from babies being in contact with cow manure. The doctors here treat more children with Hydrocephalus than anywhere else in the world.

The operation costs the family $1000. $1000 is out of the reach of most Ugandans. This is where “Cure International” donors come in.

$1000 will provide life-changing surgery for a child

$100 provides medical care to help cure a child for life

$60 provides nursing care for a recovering child for one month

$35 will provide pre-surgery testing for a child

$15 provides casts to help 3 disabled children
Cure International also treat Clubfoot, Cleft Lip and Palate, Burn Contractures, Brain tumors, Tuberculosis of the Spine and Spina Bifida

Most of these are once off operations which will save a child’s life! These guys are awesome. Many of them highly qualified professional who take a considerable pay cut to work here.
You can give straight to “Cure International”. But I believe the best way to give is through the “Affero project”. “The Affero Project” is a grassroots online community of global justice advocates who join together to give small change every month and Vote to Decide where the money goes. It’s simple… You Give, You Vote, You Decide.”

For the person like myself who is passionate about lots of causes, give to Affero. I’m changing the way we are giving and shortly all my kids will be involved in giving to the Affero project. What better way to educate my kids by giving them an opportunity each month to vote what cause they are going to support.

Peace,
Pete Rees

(Note: Peter is our Australian Affangelist, co-member of the Uganda team and our newest member of our blogging team – you’ll be seeing a LOT more of him around here. Welcome Pete.)

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