Frehiwot Mamuye, one of our students, suffered from spina bifida, a prenatal congenital malformation, with paralysis of the lower limbs and uro-fecal incontinence. In 2018, the child’s health problems worsened and she developed a severe kidney and urinary tract infection that could not be managed by health facilities in Ethiopia.
ToAdd Onlus then decided to take charge of the little girl and contacted various health facilities in Italy; the Bambin Gesù Hospital in Rome agreed to treat the little girl and included her in a humanitarian project. We then initiated a specific fundraising activity that allowed us to cover travel and living expenses for the little girl and her mother Shumitu.
In August 2019, Frehiwot arrived in Rome, accompanied by her mother. The child’s treatment requires regular long-term urological interventions that require her to stay in Italy. ToAdd, with the invaluable help of friends living in Rome, took steps to complete the many procedures necessary to allow the little girl and her mother an extended stay in Italy.
Currently, mother and child are housed at a shelter, the girl regularly attends school (seventh grade) and speaks very good Italian; the mother attends an Italian language course, is increasingly autonomous in the management of daily life and it is hoped that she will soon be able to find a job that can help her become independent and ensure their long-term stay in Italy.
