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| Talliah Kachuta |
Colleen Chitsa
HARARE – A three-year old girl, Talliah Kachuta, of Glenview 1 who
was born without an anal passage and is using a hole drilled on her stomach to
get rid of body waste needs to undergo a colostomy closure operation for her to
use the normal excretion organ.
The colostomy operation requires
US$7 200.
The child’s mother Patricia Timire, who is
unemployed, said the baby was born without an anus and she underwent surgical
operation at Harare Hospital on her belly so that an alternative excretion
passage could be created.
She said the child underwent her
first colostomy operation soon after birth as she waited for the healing of
another surgical operation which had been performed to open up her anal passage.
The anal passage has since healed
but for it to start functioning, doctors should close the stomach hole first, a
medical procedure which costs thousands of US dollars.
Her family says the child is being
stigmatised by other children who do not want to play with her as she is often covered
in faeces and flies.
“She is growing up and now she
can see and tell that she is different from other children. It hurts seeing her
cry everyday because she does not have any friends. Sometimes people look at
her and ask many questions about why she is like that and this is makes her
feel uncomfortable,” said the mother.
