KAFIKA HOUSE

TACKLING TREATABLE DISABILITIES ONE CHILD AT A TIME

A bustling gateway to Mount Kilimanjaro and Serengeti National Park, the Tanzanian city of Arusha also faces the challenges of systemic poverty, including a healthcare system that is often stretched too thin. Among Arusha’s many disadvantaged children, few face longer odds than those who are disabled. Compounding this tragedy, many of these children suffer needlessly from disabilities that could be easily treated, if only they had access to the proper care.

To address this situation, AKP partnered with Kafika House to provide Arusha’s disabled children with a holistic, transformative healthcare facility. Kafika House affords a safe and loving home for children receiving pre- and post-operative care and rehabilitation for surgically correctable disabilities such as cleft lip and palate, clubfoot, skeletal fluorosis, burn scar contractures, masses and osteomyelitis.

Kafika House provides the essential wrap-around services the children need before and after major surgeries. Rather than immediately returning to their rural villages, Kafika ensures they get the physical therapy, nutrition and medical oversight necessary for full recovery. Children spend an average of three months at Kafika House, all the while learning, playing and receiving the care they need.

While some medical facilities are places of suffering, Kafika is truly a place of joy. Many of these children have spent their lives hidden away because of their disabilities. Their stay at Kafika House may mark the first time they have had unlimited access to proper nutrition and education, time to play with their peers, and a chance to fully embrace childhood. This is evident in their smiles.

We at AKP are proud to partner with Kafika House, and we look to the future with hope, knowing that Arusha’s disabled children will finally have a place to not only heal their physical wounds, but also just be kids.