Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world, with one third of the entire population living in poverty according to the United Nations Human Development Index. We take medical care for granted; in Tanzania, many cannot afford it for themselves and their children.
In order to ensure a better future for the children in Tanzania, we are supporting the Plaster House, a rehabilitation centre for children in Arusha in the north-east of the country, together with our partners from Pflaster für Tansania e. V..
Every year, around 1000 young patients are treated there for pre-operative and post-operative care of orthopaedic surgery. At the facility, the children are prepared for their upcoming surgeries with nutritious food and therapeutic programmes. After their surgery, they go through a rehabilitation programme at Plaster House and are thus supported in their healing process. The Plaster House also offers a safe place where the children not only receive medical care, but are also lovingly cared for. Through the joint contact with the other children and the provision of educational activities, the children can recover well from the stresses and strains of the operation.
Volunteers for the Plaster House
The most common conditions treated at Plaster House are clubfeet, osteomyelitis, cleft lip and palate, or even curvatures of the spine.
So far, we have supported the Plaster House financially together with our partners Pflaster für Tansania e. V.. Now we are expanding our support further and will also be sending volunteers to support the team on site from autumn this year. The volunteers will assist the staff in caring for the children to make their stay at Plaster House as comfortable as possible. More information about our new volunteer programme will soon be available on our social media.
STELP supports the construction of a children’s clinic
Besides the support with volunteers, our STELP doctor Martin Breitkopf, who was recently on site with our partners in Tanzania, was also able to push ahead with a new planned project: the construction of our own clinic. With the new clinic of our own, we can ensure that even more children will soon be operated on and have a healthy future ahead of them. Plaster House has to spend most of the donations on operations at the external clinic, and the hospital’s capacity for operations on the children is also limited. With our own new clinic, we can ensure that even more children will soon be operated on and have a healthy future ahead of them.
We will accompany this project from the planning stage to the construction of the clinic and its operation and implement it together with our partners.
We are very much looking forward to this big project and will of course keep you informed about the news.
