Ashvan was so pleasant when I met with him. For a moment I was tempted to see if I could change his surgery date and make him come to our hospital in Kijabe sooner. At three years old, he could remember the incident that led him to getting burned, and when his mother, Jane, accidentally left out an “important detail” he shook her and corrected her. At another point during our chat, he whispered to his mother and asked her to show me a photo taken of him when he had first been admitted in the hospital immediately after his accident. (Picture is below)

It happened in November of last year. It was early morning and his mother was preparing tea for breakfast. “I had left the tea outside on the “jiko”(a type of portable cooking stove that uses charcoal) for a minute and was running into the house. I met with Ashvan as he was running out to go play with a neighbor, and it was normal so I did not think twice about it. Until I heard him screaming. It was instantly obvious what had happened. We rushed to a nearby dispensary where we got first aid and then went home. The next day, Ashvan woke up all swollen and I decided it was best to take him to a hospital."

When they arrived at the hospital, doctors did the best they could to help with the burns and advised physiotherapy. Unfortunately, the physiotherapy did not seem to help him much in dealing with the shoulder contracture. Ashvan now associates hospitals with pain and discomfort. Hopefully at CURE we can not only give him a life changing surgery but we can help change his views on hospitals. Be praying for Ashvan, we are so excited for September and can't wait to see what improvements we can make in his life. 

http://cure.org/curekids/kenya/2012/06/ashvan_gitonga/