Help us extend essential care across Tanzania

Meet the individuals your generosity has helped.

Every October, we mark four days of awareness. Days like World Smile Day and World Sight Day call attention to the challenges facing marginalized communities. At Kupona, we make it our mission to introduce you to the individuals within these communities who face these challenges every day, and to show you how your generosity has put them on the path to a brighter future. 

October 7th - World Smile Day: Meet Sharifa

At 11-months-old, Sharifa’s mother Lucy brought her to CCBRT for surgery to correct her cleft lip/palate. 

“My husband and I are farmers, and have two other children,” says Lucy. “It was a two-day bus ride to come here, and if CCBRT’s services were not free, we would not have been able to afford Sharifa’s procedure. When I gave birth and first saw Sharifa’s cleft lip, I knew something was wrong, but was not familiar with the condition. I was concerned because she was not feeding, and worried she might not grow. No one explained the causes to me, but at the hospital, they insisted the condition needed surgery. Two nurses told me to take the baby to CCBRT. I am hopeful this surgery will allow Sharifa to fit in with her peers, and perhaps she will soon be able to feed herself. I hope she will one day be a doctor like the doctors and nurses we have met at CCBRT.”

Thanks to your support, and the support of partners like Smile Train, Sharifa was one of 397 children who received cleft lip/palate surgery free of charge at CCBRT in 2015.

October 11th - UN International Day of the Girl Child: Meet Fatuma

When a girl has access to high quality healthcare and an education, her potential is limitless. For Fatuma, two surgeries to release her burn contracture scars will enable her to go back to school. When she was six, gasoline inside her house ignited when a candle fell into it. Fatuma cannot speak because she was born with a hearing impairment, so her mother shared her story with us.

“When the fire started, my daughter could not hear us urging her out of the burning house. She suffered extensive burns. For two months, she was treated in a government hospital, but the doctors could not release the scarring preventing her from extending her arms and fingers. They advised me to take her to CCBRT.

Fatuma underwent two rounds of surgeries at CCBRT. She is still healing from her treatment, but she can now fully extend both arms and has more mobility in her fingers.

I plan to send her to a school that can support deaf children. Because she cannot speak, it will be important for her to write so I am happy that she will be able to do this now.”

Last year, CCBRT treated 70 burn patients. 67 were children. The burns program is one of the most under-funded programs at CCBRT. Your support is critical to enable the availability of treatment for children like Fatuma.

October 13th - UN World Sight Day: Meet Goodwin

"My name is Goodwin and I am seven-years-old. I was born with cataracts on both of my eyes. When my teacher noticed I couldn’t read the blackboard in class, and my parents saw me bump into things, they knew I had a problem with my eyes. My parents brought me to CCBRT for an operation to remove my cataracts. When I woke up after my operation, my eyes were covered with bandages. I worried that I would never see again! My nurses removed the bandages, and I could finally see things clearly. I’m excited to go home, and to go back to school!”

Goodwin was one of over 7,800 people who received treatment for correctable blindness or visual impairment at CCBRT in 2015. Your support, and the support of partners like WonderWork, make this possible!

These are only four of the 1 million lives CCBRT’s work touches every year. Global numbers can be overwhelming. It can be difficult to realize the power we all have to make a change. This month, as you see the campaigns surrounding these international days of awareness, know that your support of Kupona and CCBRT is making a difference. Individuals like Sharifa, Goodwin, and Fatuma are receiving life changing treatment thanks to you. And we are grateful!