Who is Rose?
Rose with a swollen face due to the medicine she has to take.
Rose Nduwimana
Age
16 years
Living place
Orphanage „Centre Uranderera“, Bujumbura, Burundi
Illness
Aplastic anaemia
Required money for the treatment
€ 50.000
Already available
€ 20.000
February 2009 - Six years ago Rose and her younger sister Claudine were brought to the “Foundation Stamm” (foundation tribe) by “Ärzte ohne Grenzen” (doctors without borders), an organisation that is caring for people in poor countries.
Since then she has been living in an orphanage called “Centre Uranderera” in the capital city Bunjumbura. Her parents passed away several years ago. Until last year Rose was visiting 6th grade of a “Primarschule” (Swiss elementary school). Due to the fact that her illness gets worse with every day Rose was not able to pass the last school year.
Philipp Ziser from Karlsruhe lives and works as one of the first of the organisation “Weltwärts-Freiwilligen” (world ward volunteers) in the Foundation Tribe. He has stayed there for one year and has been taking care of Rose.
Background
It was in December 2007 when Rose was complaining about dizziness the first time and wasn’t able to visit school anymore. First checkups in the hospital didn’t bring adjuvant results. Nevertheless the sudden change of Rose’s state of health was very alarming. She got blood transfusion and medicine. After that she was doing fine again.
A few months later she stated to have the same disorders and had to stay longer in the hospital then the last time. Again Rose had to go through many checkups and again the doctors had no exact conclusion. They found out that Rose was suffering from anaemia but nobody knew what caused that. Rose was doing better after another medical and blood treatment. But months later it started again.
Contact to experts from Nigeria and Kenya
In the meantime a blood expert from Nigeria, who came to Burundi to work at the university hospital, got in contact with Rose’s doctors. But he didn’t find out more than was already known. A deeper check-up was needed but because of missing equipment not possible.
At the same time the first contact with a doctor of the German embassy in Nairobi was made and who took over responsibility for Rose. This was an important connection: He was a specialist and able to take a bone marrow biopsy, which was necessary.
The specimen was sent to Nairobi and got analysed. After that there were only two possibilities left: leukaemia or aplastic anaemia.
Many people, living in Burundi, made it possible that Rose got more checkups, medicine and the blood transfusions, which are necessary for her surviving. They spent money to pay for all this.
Healing chances for Rose: 80 to 90 per cent
Nurse in the university hospital Bujumbura
After a short time came the relieving news from Nairobi: Rose had aplastic anaemia. This is easier and cheaper to treat than leukaemia.
The university hospital in Freiburg (Baden-Württemberg) is willing to treat Rose. Her healing chances are 80 to 90 per cent, according to Prof. Charlotte Niemayer, medical manager of the department for paediatric haematology and oncology of the university hospital Freiburg.
The required amount: € 50.000. The required advance of € 20.000 for the beginning of the treatment and the money for the flight of Rose and an escort will be paid by a German organisation called Bild hilft e.V. ,,Ein Herz für Kinder”.
But there are still € 30.000 needed for Rose’s treatment which has to be brought up somehow.
So please help! Rose can survive – with your donation.
(Translation by Laura Bräuning)