Without surgery, Beltivette would have forever lost the ability to walk
Five years ago, in a two room mud-brick house in an out-of-the-way village called Belo in north-west Cameroon, Beltivette came into the world. There was no running water in the house. No electricity. From the day of her birth, Beltivette was already facing terrible odds when it came to her chances of breaking out of the cycle of poverty and disadvantage.
She had a condition called Genu-Valgum, or more commonly “knock-knee”. Her right knee bone was growing inwards at the wrong angle. If left untreated, it would continue to grow in the wrong direction, walking would become harder and even more painful for Beltivette.
And before long, it would be so bad, that Beltivette would not be able to walk at all. And it would have gone untreated if it had not been for the surgery that could only be arranged because of the support we receive from wonderful people like you.
Children born with treatable conditions in very remote, very poor communities often have no real medical services. Success depends on them receiving timely treatment. Before their conditions get so bad that there’s nothing we can do, or they grow too big for treatment to be viable any longer.
Without help in time, the result is permanent disability. And a life with seriously diminished opportunities.
Surgery means Beltivette won’t lose the use of her legs or suffer pain any longer. And the same is true for the other children. Their conditions ARE treatable. For them, disability IS avoidable. But only if we can act quickly. If Beltivette’s leg were to go untreated, she would lose the ability to walk altogether. In fact her doctor told us it would eventually become so bad, that as an adult, she may never have children of her own.
There is another little one out there right now, growing up in an traditional, impoverished, rural community like Beltivette’s. She’s in pain. She deserves the same chances as her friends but will lose them. Unless we can give her the surgery and rehabilitation she needs.
And we can’t do that, without you. Please help a child like Beltivette today.
