news and media: news archives 2005
What’s Buruli ulcer and why does ALM care?
Let me take you into the children’s
Buruli ward at a busy hospital,
outside of Kumasi in Ghana.
Small metal beds are crammed side by side. Taped to each bed is a crayon drawing —attempts by the kids to make their hospital home cheerful. Extra mattresses have been put on the floor.
You can hardly walk between the beds.
You look at each child, wanting desperately to see the promise of God’s precious creation. But you can’t see beyond the bandages that wrap a child’s torso or the spindly little legs, stripped of their flesh.
You turn quickly from the child whose face is swarthed in bandages and whose ear has been consumed by this gruesome disease. You turn away from the girl in body bandages only to see the bright face of a six-year-old, strapped awkwardly into gauze strips. Buruli has destroyed the flesh under his armpit.
Crammed between the beds, or crouched on the floor are mothers and fathers who have traveled from their villages to attend their children. They’ve left the small farms where they grew just enough food to sustain life. They’ve left the markets where they earned a dollar a day selling rice. Some have been here for months.
Buruli treatment and recovery can take months. Some of the children will be hospitalized for almost a year. You can help. Costs for plastic surgery and care can be as high as $1500 for one child.
Please help children with Buruli ulcer by donating now.
