In rural regions in Tanzania, dreadful accidents occur frequently. Due to a lack of sophisticated medical services, limbs need to be amputated. After saving their lives by amputating the diseased limb, the amputees are left to fend for themselves. They are unable to afford the cost of an artificial limb, and most are reduced to becoming beggars. The fate of children whose legs needed to be amputated is especially touching.

In August 2008, four amputees were introduced to IZAAS by NGOs working with amputees in the Tanzanian countryside.

One of them was 10-year old Bibiana. Bibiana lost her mother to AIDS in 2005. Her father, although also suffering from AIDS, tried his utmost to take good care of his six children. He was especially protective of Bibiana and her younger sister Tindy. Both girls are albinos and therefore exposed to harassment. Bibiana's father had no choice but to virtually hide his daughters from the eyes of strangers in order to keep them out of harm's way. Tragically, Bibiana's father also passed away in December 2007. The children moved in with their paternal aunt, Tatu Mashamba. They shared a one-room mud hut with their grandmother. A mere two weeks after Bibiana's father passed away, disaster struck. The children and their grandmother went to bed directly after dinner, as there was no electricity and it was too expensive to light the kerosene lamp. Tindy was unable to fall asleep. After dozing off for a moment she woke again and was terrified to see a stranger leaning over her sister Bibiana. Her screaming woke the aunt and her husband, a lamp was lit and the family was terrified to see that Bibiana was fast asleep in a pool of blood. Mercifully, the villagers were able to carry her to the local dispensary, the nurse called an ambulance and Bibiana, still in a stupor, was taken to Geita district hospital. Upon examination it was found that after heavily drugging her, her right leg had been cut off above the knee. Villagers volunteered to donate blood for Bibiana, and she was immediately taken to the operating room. Her life was saved thanks to the vigilance of her sister Tindy.

Such crimes are committed by the Black Magic Devil Worshippers, a cult whose members believe that after using the body parts of albinos in their magic rites, they will strike gold or diamond mines in the area, which is rich in unexplored sites of these minerals.

Bibiana and Tindy are still in Geita hospital. The incident left them severely traumatized. They refuse to meet with strangers and are afraid to return home, feeling that they are not safe from further attacks.

After being introduced to IZAAS, Bibiana's life and that of three other amputees changed dramatically. In cooperation with charitable individuals, IZAAS arranged for passports and Kenyan visas so that the amputees could travel to the Kenyan capital Nairobi, where there is a center for artificial limbs.

Raw materials for four limbs were donated by a charitable individual.

In a miraculously speedy procedure, the representative of the Nairobi Jaipur Limb Center received the four amputees on Wednesday morning, put all other engagements aside and worked overtime to build and fit the four prostheses within slightly more than 24 hours. By Thursday evening, the amputees left Nairobi and they were back in Bukoba by Friday morning. They had left on crutches, but came back walking on two legs. The group also brought back the repaired artificial legs of a further two amputees from their region.

A fifth amputee, a young boy named Jeremia, received knee shoes until his prostheses can be repaired.

The Lady Fatemah Charitable Trust carried the cost of building, fitting and repairing six limbs, the cost of Jeremia's knee shoes as well as the travel expenses of the four amputees and two escorts:

The lives of Bibiana and Tindy may change in more than one way as the head of Mugeza School for the Disabled is considering registering the girls.

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Yours sincerely,

Amirali G. Karim

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