Nasabu knows from painful experience how it feels to be stared at. A huge tumor was engulfing her head and neck. No doctor helped her. Until HOREMI took care of the medical and human emergency.
The growth was mercilessly getting larger. Spreading around her head, neck and ear until it gradually changed the entire structure of her head. A deformity that not only burdened 12-year-old Nasabu psychologically, but also increasingly caused her physical pain. And worst of all, no one knew whether the tumour might be life-threatening. Not her father, who struggled along with her seriously ill mother far away as a farmer. And not her aunt, with whom Nasabu lived because of it. Initial visits to health facilities also brought neither clarity nor help. So the aunt decided to take Nasabu back to her father in the hope that he would find a way out.
The father and daughter went to many more doctors and clinics. Without success. They even spent three expensive months in the Mulago National Referral Hospital — the father sold what little they had in exchange. And yet in the end they had to return home without any improvement or prospect of recovery.
Renewed hope thanks to HOREMI
That’s when the father started looking for help elsewhere. At the beginning of 2022, he heard about HOREMI, travelled over 80 kilometres to get there — and found open ears and arms with Kenneth and Naume. They alerted the circle of friends to the plight of the girl. In surgeon Davide Naggi, CEO at the CORSU hospital, they finally found someone who was willing and competent to take on Nasabu’s problem. And at last there was a diagnosis: the growth was a “benign” lymphangioma, a rare tumour of the lymphatic vessels. But while not life-threatening it was already severely impacting the quality of life not to mention its foreseeable impact in the future.

The doctors planned the necessary plastic surgery operations and calculated the costs. Because Nasabu’s relatives would never be able to raise the money it was agreed to be financed by the friends of HOREMI. However, many more months of nervous waiting would pass before the treatment could finally begin. First, the operating theatres at CORSU were renovated, then due to Nasabu’s health problems the operation had to be delayed.
Three operations and a lot of patience
In August 2022, Dr Naggi was finally able to begin the surgical process. In the first phase, the structure of the head was restored. Next the large growth on the ear was removed and in a third operation the remaining tumor on the neck was taken away. It took long phases of healing in between as well as lots of medication, good wound care and regular check-ups. With the several stays in the hospital and the many trips there, the costs added up to nearly 3,000 dollars — not a large fortune by German standards, but in Uganda (annual income under 1,000 dollars) very much so.
The result was more than worth it. Since the last wounds healed in July 2023, Nasabu is noticed only because she is so pretty. Finally, she can live her life, go to school, and later do an apprenticeship. Her aunt was immediately willing to take the now 13-year-old back to live with her family. All the best Nasabu!

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