Be the eyes and ears and help children in need of surgery

Many of you would remember Tatu Shabani, the little girl from Tanzania who was born with bilateral club feet. She won all of our hearts in 2005 when GVN volunteer, Gwen Jones, launched an appeal to help give Tatu the medical treatment she desperately needed.

It has been a long journey but thanks to Gwen and Children's First Foundation who took on the case and covered most of the costs, Tatu has had her two club feet repaired and has been able to enjoy her first steps over Christmas.

A club foot is a birth defect where the child is born with their feet tucked underneath them and soles facing behind. It occurs in approximately 2 per 1000 live births and without treatment the person is forced to walk on their ankles or on the sides of their feet.

"I decided that Tatu was the reason I'd taken the volunteer placement. You cannot help everyone you meet or nearly as many people as you wish you could, but Tatu is someone my medical knowledge could make a difference for that would have a huge impact on her life and open future opportunities," said Gwen. When volunteering you may come across a child in desperate need of major surgery (due to a deformity, an injury that healed incorrectly etc.). The Children's First Foundation (CFF) may be able to help. If the child is approved, CFF will pay for the child's airfare, medical costs and rehabilitation to have the operation in Australia.

CFF's mission is to help those children primarily under fifteen years of age that have operable conditions but are ineligible for assistance from larger aid organisations due to their country of origin, remoteness or the severity of their illness.

GVN and Children's First Foundation wish to ask all volunteers during their placement to keep an eye out for children in need of operations, and just like Gwen you can make a difference to the life of a child.

If you find a child that desperately needs an operation please contact GVN or the Children's First Foundation.

READ TATU'S STORY >>> http://www.volunteer.org.nz/media/articles/tatu.php

TANZANIA VOLUNTEER PROGRAM >>> http://www.volunteer.org.nz/tanzania