Urgent appeal to save young Felesiana

THREE-YEAR-OLD Felesiana Nauwake is suffering from a disease called Noma and will go blind in one eye if not operated on soon.

Noma is a gangrenous condition that destroys the soft tissue and bone of the face. The World Health Organisation estimates that over 100 000 children in developing countries contract Noma every year.The mortality rate of this infection is 70 to 90 per cent.Children that survive the disease are permanently disfigured and become stigmatised in their societies.They are also left unable to breathe, eat or speak properly for the rest of their lives, unless they are able to receive costly reconstructive surgery.Norma affects children with weak immune systems and children suffering from malnutrition, HIV-AIDS, measles and other infectious diseases related to poverty.Children living in unsanitary conditions are also at risk.Felesiana was first diagnosed with the disease in December 2003 when her mother took her to the Oshakati hospital.Her condition worsened and soon her mother abandoned her.Jenetolia Nafuka heard about the little girl who was living abandoned in the hospital and took her in.The two soon left for Windhoek in search for help and are now sharing a shack on the outskirts of Windhoek.Felesiana urgently needs reconstructive surgery in Pretoria, which costs N$170 700.More money is needed for the accommodation and flight costs for her and her caretaker.The doctors from Pretoria have estimated that she will lose sight in her left eye by the middle of December if she is not operated on soon.NamWater has donated N$45 000 to the Felesiana Nauwake Trust Fund.The staff of the Ausspannplatz Branch of First National Bank, where the account is, have collected N$2 500 among themselves for Felesiana.The World Health Organisation estimates that over 100 000 children in developing countries contract Noma every year.The mortality rate of this infection is 70 to 90 per cent.Children that survive the disease are permanently disfigured and become stigmatised in their societies.They are also left unable to breathe, eat or speak properly for the rest of their lives, unless they are able to receive costly reconstructive surgery.Norma affects children with weak immune systems and children suffering from malnutrition, HIV-AIDS, measles and other infectious diseases related to poverty.Children living in unsanitary conditions are also at risk.Felesiana was first diagnosed with the disease in December 2003 when her mother took her to the Oshakati hospital.Her condition worsened and soon her mother abandoned her.Jenetolia Nafuka heard about the little girl who was living abandoned in the hospital and took her in.The two soon left for Windhoek in search for help and are now sharing a shack on the outskirts of Windhoek.Felesiana urgently needs reconstructive surgery in Pretoria, which costs N$170 700.More money is needed for the accommodation and flight costs for her and her caretaker.The doctors from Pretoria have estimated that she will lose sight in her left eye by the middle of December if she is not operated on soon.NamWater has donated N$45 000 to the Felesiana Nauwake Trust Fund.The staff of the Ausspannplatz Branch of First National Bank, where the account is, have collected N$2 500 among themselves for Felesiana.