CAPE TOWN — The cold of winter has arrived in the tiny shacks of Langa township, near the southern tip of Africa. People light small fires on dirt floors, warming their hands close to the blaze. In some homes, such as Nosathini Sikobongeli’s , kerosene cookers shoot flames a foot high.
Arrie Odendaal winced when he walked into Sikobongeli’s shack, which doubles as a shabeen, or local drinking spot. He started to reach out for her 2-year-old daughter, Sandra , as she skipped by the open flame. “I’m worried about that fire,” said Odendaal, a researcher on injury prevention for South Africa’s Medical Research Council .
“I know,” the mother replied. “But I don’t have anything else to keep us warm.”
Odendaal was working on a project studying safety attitudes and precautions among parents in South Africa’s townships. That work is part of a growing recognition around Africa of the extraordinary number of children who suffer from serious burns inside poor people’s homes and then receive almost no help afterward.
“It’s a pretty devastating injury, and it’s for life,” said Dr. Rene Albertyn, a pain specialist at Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, the only hospital devoted solely to children south of the Sahara.
…A household survey in Mozambique found that burns were the number one cause of injuries to children…
Everywhere in the world, young children are at a greater risk than adults of being burned. Their skin is much thinner than an adult’s. Their natural curiosity attracts them to many hot sources. Toddlers tip easily. - Boston Globe
Arrie Odendaal winced when he walked into Sikobongeli’s shack, which doubles as a shabeen, or local drinking spot. He started to reach out for her 2-year-old daughter, Sandra , as she skipped by the open flame. “I’m worried about that fire,” said Odendaal, a researcher on injury prevention for South Africa’s Medical Research Council .
“I know,” the mother replied. “But I don’t have anything else to keep us warm.”
Odendaal was working on a project studying safety attitudes and precautions among parents in South Africa’s townships. That work is part of a growing recognition around Africa of the extraordinary number of children who suffer from serious burns inside poor people’s homes and then receive almost no help afterward.
“It’s a pretty devastating injury, and it’s for life,” said Dr. Rene Albertyn, a pain specialist at Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Cape Town, the only hospital devoted solely to children south of the Sahara.
“There’s very little support for a burnt, disfigured child in Africa. If we push out 1,000 children after treating them each year, where are those children going? The answer is that they become hidden figures in society. It’s a desperate situation for them.”
…A household survey in Mozambique found that burns were the number one cause of injuries to children…
Everywhere in the world, young children are at a greater risk than adults of being burned. Their skin is much thinner than an adult’s. Their natural curiosity attracts them to many hot sources. Toddlers tip easily. - Boston Globe
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