Emmanuel's Story | STEMM Children's Village Car Fundraiser
Medical care for our 50 orphan children at STEMM Children’s Village is one of reasons why reliable transportation in rural Tanzania is so incredibly important. Our small village clinic is only able to provide very basic care. The closest large hospital is in Arusha which is over an hour away on very rough roads. Last month Emmanuel, one of our children, had been not feeling well and was diagnosed after multiple trips to the doctor in Arusha with atypical pneumonia. It had not responded to several tries of antibiotics. He had to have an IV in place and receive intravenous antibiotics every day. He is a strong, healthy incredibly active 13 year old boy who had to fight to breath and could hardly get out of bed. Finally the pneumonia started to resolved after about 3 weeks when suddenly he developed acute abdominal pain. Our fabulous village doctor knew something was not right. They rushed him to the hospital in Arusha which is over an hour away. This is where the specialists work out of and Dr. Bryan knew they would provide the best care for Emmanuel. After some lab tests and X-rays the diagnosis of acute appendicitis was made and Emmanuel was in the operating room within 2 hours (which is pretty amazing for a third world country). Dr. Brian and our social work staff stayed by Emmanuel’s bedside for 4 days at the hospital. 2 weeks later he is back in school and running around with the other 49 brothers and sisters at STEMM. Without reliable transportation medical emergencies with our children would be terrifying. The roads in rural Tanzania drastically shorten the lifespan of an automobile. Because the roads are so incredibly rough a strong, solid 4WD safari type truck is the only option. Even with a good vehicle there are times when the roads are impassible. Which makes good reliable transportation even more important.
Thank you for considering donating to the STEMM Car Matching Fundraiser and helping our children receive critical medical care on a consistent basis. Come visit us again tomorrow to hear another heart touching story of why these vehicles are so important. And where every penny of your donation will be used.
Blessings
