Hanahi

Niger
Burn Contracture

Hanahi is a 3 year old boy from Niger. When he was 6 months old, he crawled into a pot of hot food and severely burned his hands and chest.

When his father saw that he was burned so badly, he divorced Hanahi’s mother and left them both. As so often happens in developing countries, Hanahi was taken to a traditional healer who tightly bound the burn in gauze. When the bandages came off, not only were his wounds untreated, but what was left of his fingers were fused together.

At CURE Hanahi had a series of different surgeries and skin grafts to free what was left of his fingers. The guiding principle of our hospitals, especially when it comes to burn contractures, is function over form and Hanahi is a perfect example.

Once Hanahi could pick up things like markers and crayons, he started drawing non-stop. It wasn’t easy for him, but that did not stop him. Hanahi’s father abandoned him because he thought he was useless, but now that he has had his surgeries, Hanahi is able to do a lot of things with his hands. Far from ruined, he is full of potential and energy.