Treatment of a Badly Burned Young Man

This is part of the daily life of the Mafubira Community Clinic.  

Can you imagine having the knowledge to treat a patient, but not have the medications and supplies? 
Well, that is part of the daily life at the Clinic.   


A young man was badly burned by a candle and today he has come to the clinic to have it cleaned and the bandages changed. This is a 19 year old young man, who looks like a small toddler. He suffers from epilepsy, stunted growth, has never spoken, and is physically disabled as well. It is unknown what his actual medical condition is at this time, but at the moment he is receiving the best medical care his family and the clinic can provide. The child should be seen by a specialist but the family can not afford this, therefore, the clinic nurse is doing the very best he can at this time. He has successfully kep the wounds clean and the child from developing an infection, but there are no pain medications available to give this child, antibiotics are limited and therefore only given when absolutely needed, as well as things like numbing medications to allow debridement of the wounds.

This is a 19 y/o young man, severely disabled, epilepsy, stunted, mute who was burned by a candle being treated at the clinic.