South Africa: Children of fire
A few months ago, Tapera Jani, a three-year-old Zimbabwean boy who lived with his parents on a farm outside Bulawayo, walked into a fire. The fire left severe burn injuries on his feet.
JOHANNESBURG, 26 December 2008 (IRIN) - With a non-existent health system, there was little chance of the toddler's survival in Zimbabwe. The farm owner, who heard about the incident, got in touch with the South African office of Children of Fire International (CFI), a charity, which helps provide specialised care to children with burn injuries.
Bronwen Jones, a writer and former journalist who founded the charity, said they had budgeted for treating Jani's burns, but were not quite prepared for what was in store - the toddler had kwashiorkor, a nutritional disease caused by inadequate protein consumption, which can result in death if not treated.
“If Tapera had not died of his burns, he would have died of starvation in Mugabe's country,” said Jones, as she kissed the grinning Jani, now a healthy child. “He weighed 8.5kg when he arrived. We expected him to weigh double that for his biological age.”
The charity has come to expect complications in each case it takes up. “There is poverty and HIV/AIDS in the region - as we help to heal the children, we have to deal with all their problems.”
If Tapera had not died of his burns, he would have died of starvation in Mugabe's countrySince it was set up over a decade ago, CFI, which is registered in the UK as a charity, has helped 70 children with severe burns and 200 from across Africa who required less complicated surgery. “We continue to help the 70 children who need complicated surgery,” Jones said.
Reconstructive surgery is expensive. “It can cost anywhere between R40, 000 (about US$4,123) to R1 million (about $103,095) per child,” explained Jones. The charity, therefore, takes on few cases, “and the ones we do, we know no one else would help, for example if the child is also HIV positive.”
CFI works with a network of doctors, surgeons and health care specialists, most of whom volunteer their services. The charity has never received any government aid and operates entirely on public donations, using volunteers from across the world.
“My son Tristan calls us a boot-camp for spoilt European students,” said Jones. Children come and go out of the house which serves as a home and office for the charity in Johannesburg. A school near the main building with a staff of three teachers ensures the children have access to education while undergoing treatment.
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