Blood and toil

Prospects for receiving neurosurgery are low for children in Ethiopia, owing to expense but, most of all, the scarcity of trained professionals. One week ago, baby Faran had little chance of treatment for his encephalocele. Our doctors believed the best hope was to organise a CT scan and see if help might be available abroad.

But then visiting neurosurgeon, Dr Safi who has worked in Pakistan and Hong Kong, arrived in Addis Ababa's Korean Hospital and a rare opportunity presented itself.

Sealing the brain tissue between Faran's eyes will not only improve his appearance but reduce his risk of meningitis.

A stipulation of Faran's operation is that a blood donation is made. Usually in Ethiopia a patient's relative replenishes the blood bank. But today we learnt breastfeeding mothers are not permitted. Lacking an alternative Tom, Project Harar's executive director, stepped in and donated a deep red pint in the Ethiopian Red Cross centre.

Baby Faran is now admitted into the Korean Hospital. Here's wishing him well through his upcoming neurosurgery.