Fami

In 2015, 11 year-old Fami arrived in Addis Ababa hoping for treatment for her ameloblastoma (a type of facial tumour). Sadly, the surgeons could not find a way to operate that year, and she was sent home. 

In 2016 Fami tried again, travelling hundreds of miles on her own to Addis Ababa to ask for surgery. Thankfully, the surgeons had found a way to operate, but we needed her mum's permission! Project Harar's team travelled across Ethiopia to her remote village to find Fami's mum and get permission for the surgery. Luckily, her mum gave permission, and Fami got her operation. 

We saw Fami again in 2018, and our surgeons operated to reduce the swelling further. Afterwards, Fami told us how surgery had positively changed her life:

Before my operation I was mocked and bullied,' she said. 'I only went to school occasionally. Now nobody bullies me, I have friends, and I go to school regularly.

Fami's transformation is pictured below - the left photograph was taken in 2016 before her operation, the middle photograph after her 2016 operation and far right after her 2018 operation.