Your urgent Easter gift is needed to help him escape a life of pain, prejudice and poverty
6-year-old Makoma was born with bowlegs. He is growing up in terrible pain. The physical pain in his legs. And the heartbreaking pain of isolation.
There is hope for Makoma, but it must come soon! Makoma lives in hope that someone, somewhere will reach out and make the surgery he needs possible before it’s too late.
It pains Makoma’s mum Sumayiya to talk about the way he is treated every day by the very children he hopes to befriend…
“He cannot run like other children. He runs as if he is jumping. This makes the kids from the neighbourhood laugh at him because they have never seen his condition before.”
Here in Australia, bowlegs are virtually a thing of the past. And the few children born with them receive surgical treatment within weeks.
But not Makoma. He lives in an area of the world where treatment for conditions like bowlegs are not fully understood.
Makoma can’t wait much longer. Early intervention is so important for bowleg surgery that Makoma’s chances of a successful outcome are slipping away by the day. If he doesn’t get the treatment he needs soon, he may be too old for it to work. He is praying for help to come before it’s too late.
Sumayiya shared…
“Makoma does not go to school. He stays here at home. I want him to study and also fit in this community as a valued member. His peers ignore him and do not want to include him in their playing groups. But he has never given up asking them for a chance to play with them.”
There are very few places for Makoma to turn for the help he needs. And even if there was access to medical treatment near Makoma’s remote village, his family couldn’t afford it.
Sumayiya and Makoma are surviving on just one meal a day.
Sumayiya is raising her son on her own and they are living in extreme poverty. When putting food on the table is hard enough, paying for specialist medical expenses is out of the question.
So Makoma is still desperately waiting for treatment to end his pain and time is running out.
Sumayiya said, “I hope help will come. I know surgery will be good for Makoma. But I could never afford the money to make his legs straight.”
Share the HOPE Easter brings
Just as Jesus gave us living hope through his death and resurrection, imagine how you could fill Makoma’s life with hope this Easter.
This Easter, you can help provide mobility aids like crutches and wheelchairs, so children like Makoma can recover and build strength after surgery.
You can help a child like Makoma get the surgery he needs to walk tall and break free from a life of poverty for good.
Or with an extremely generous gift, you could help a child like Makoma with surgery, plus mobility aids during rehab, and training for a family supporting their child during recovery at home.
Conditions like bowlegs are completely treatable, but only if treated early.
Makoma’s surgery must happen soon — because, as a child like Makoma grows older, the odds of a successful surgical outcome get worse.
Makoma so desperately wants to do everything his peers do. He wants to play with the other children, he wants to help carry water back from the well for his mum, just like they do.
But he cannot do any of these things. Because every single step is agony.
Time is running out for Makoma. Your urgent Easter gift is needed before Thursday 6 April.
The death and resurrection of Christ brought living hope into the world for the first time. Please will you celebrate that living hope this Easter by helping Makoma escape a life of pain, prejudice and poverty?