A family in Keng’atuny village in Teso North Sub County in Busia is appealing to well-wishers to help them raise funds for surgery of their child born with an anal abnormality.
The twelve-month-old baby, Ruth Anita, was born without an anus, a condition which was discovered by her mother on the first day while at Angurai Hospital, where she was referred to Busia County Referral Hospital for further examination.
Anita was further referred to Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital in Eldoret (MTRH), where two holes were made on her left side of the abdomen to help her pass the stool.
“I discovered the problem with my daughter the first day I delivered her when she persistently cried the whole night. Upon close observation, I discovered she had complications as she couldn’t pass stool. She did have an anus,” narrated the mother, Annet Nekesa.
Nekesa, the mother of five, is now struggling to raise the child with this kind of abnormality, a situation that forced her husband to abandon her before going to exile in Uganda just 4 months after the baby was born.
Baby Anita goes for check-ups at MTRH in Eldoret three times a month, which is too expensive despite the humble background of the family and the fact that the mother, who is the breadwinner, works as a casual labourer in a hotel at Angurai Market, earning Ksh. 150 a day.
“I take my daughter to Eldoret thrice a month for check-ups and bear the transport cost alone of Sh400 to Malaba from Keng’atunyi, before paying Sh700 to Eldoret from Malaba,” she added.
When the family could not bear the cost of paying rent at Angurai centre, they sought refuge at St. Mary Emmaculate Chelelemuk Parish with the intervention of Fr. Rev. Benard Fwamba Wamayeye, who has been offering support in the form of food with the help of the church.
Fr. Wamayeye has appealed to all Kenyans to help Anita undergo an operation in a hospital that has specialist doctors for such cases.
“Let us contribute anything we have as Kenyans to restore dignity to the life of Baby Ruth Anita,” said Fr. Wamayeye.
Although the embryogenesis of the malfunction is not clear, health professionals believe it is due to interference with the normal development of the digestive system at varying stages during pregnancy.
To help baby Ruth Anita, contact her mother, Annet Nekesa, through 0702082680 or St. Mary Emmaculate Chelelemuk Parish.
By Absalom Namwalo
