July 2025 report: Another community outreach, and news of two Acheru patients The following pictures are from a two day surgical camp at Kaliro in the east. Acheru works closely with many partners, bringing together a range of skills and experience to maximise the impact on the communities we serve. It was organized by World Vision, and Acheru attended to provide service to patients with orthopaedic and neurological conditions. Caregivers were educated on the various birth defects among children, the causes, and interventions that are performed at Acheru including clubfoot, Cerebral Palsy, cleft lip/palate, and other conditions such as muscular dystrophy, burn contractures, and limb deformities. A total of 41 children received treatment from Acheru staff and were scheduled for follow up visits at our orthopaedic and physiotherapy clinics. Piyotu Latifu is 12 years old. He was identified by the CBR team during a community visit and presented to Acheru with curved feet. He is the fifth born of seven children. His mother says: 'This was my first time to give birth to a child with a deformity, it was scaring when the nurse told me about it but I was glad it was a big hospital where the deformity could be corrected. I got a relief at that moment but returning home with a lame child bothered me, I knew many people will want to see the baby and were to backbite me about it. 'So I decided to cover him until the treatment started at two weeks and I was consistent about it. I had to travel from our home to the hospital, it is quite a distance but I tried until the age of two. I realized that I was expecting another baby and I was weak to take him back to the hospital. Our income was also not so good and we have other children, so I stopped and the problem worsened. 'I gave up and his feet started to get deformed again. I really wanted to take him back to the hospital for many years but I failed. He was complaining of pain and how other children treated him at school. All his pain was directed to me too and I always promised to take him back for treatment but I took long until God sent good people to us at the right time. 'These people saw Latifu and told us they can correct his deformity from their hospital. We thank God for them. Latifu is a very happy boy now; he can walk with no pain. I am sure with time he will start playing football. Thank you Acheru, God bless you.' Another example of the need for our Acheru community work, finding children who for whatever reason have been denied treatment. There are still so many out there, even close to major towns or hospitals. More treatment facilities have developed in recent years, but it's still necessary for our workers to find the children and encourage the families to bring them forward for treatment. This is Kayima Lawrence, a 10 year old with severe cerebral palsy and malnutrition. Lawrence has been in the Acheru system since he was two years old, his single mother is a casual labourer with three children. The CBR team used to do home visits to her small rented house to give emotional support with counselling and guidance. The Covid 19 limited movements all over the country and by the time they went back they found Lawrence in a terrible state which needed immediate care. He was sick and badly malnourished to the edge of death, his mother said 'life is not easy for me with my children, I have a very big challenge with feeding and taking care of Lawrence, he cannot feed himself, he doesn't sit or talk. This is a challenge for me as a single mother, I have no one to help me since the father abandoned us and denied being the father of my baby. He said that in their family they do not give birth to such children'. The only option was to admit Lawrence in an Acheru partner nutrition hospital, Noah's Ark, for emergency care. This worked, as Lawrence gained weight in a short period of time. He gained strength and can kick his legs which was not possible before. Mother is so happy that she can at last mash anything eaten at home to a porridge form and Lawrence gains from it. She is no longer worried about what she can feed him on. When you look at the number of Cerebral Palsy children like Lawrence it shows how much support is needed, not only with counselling but with nutrition. But it also keeps reminding me how much impact we could have if we could address the causes, as so many cases could have been prevented through access to medical or maternity services at the time of the childs birth. This is now a primary consideration in planning our work at Napak. Return to full Acheru website