Himba boy with albinism near Wilderness Safari's Serra Cafema camp in the Kunene region of NamibiaI wanted to link this blog post to my review of Wilderness' Namibian Serra Cafema camp on Tripadvisor but Tripadvisor refused to publish the review with the link as they considered the url commercial and self promotional and a violation of their rules, while all I wanted to achieve is that perhaps some future travelers read this post and pack something extra when they are visiting the region to help the boy.
We found this albino boy (around 10 years old) at the river bank of the Kunene river while staying at Wilderness' Serra Cafema camp. He had severe burning wounds on his arms and legs and could not open one of his eyes. He was suffering a lot. I had some creme against burning wounds in my travel pharmacy so we went back to treat the boy as good as we could and give some basic advice to his family about having him wear long sleeves clothes and keep him out of the sun as much as possible . This would not have been possible without the help of our friend and guide Albert who was fabulous in disinfecting his wounds.
I also left all sun protection I had with me but that only provides help for a short period of time. The boy and his family have no access to any medical treatment.
I took pictures which I have sent to our doctor in Belgium to see how to best continue to help the boy. I will be sending this week a parcel with long sleeves UV protection t-shirts and trousers as well as a cap and sunglasses together with some more sun protection to Serra Cafema for the boy. I hope it will arrive.
According to the doctors and pharmacist I consulted the problem with most in Belgium available cremes against burning wounds is that they have to be stored in the fridge or at least at temperatures below 25°C and as that is not possible they recommend to desinfect his wounds and treat him with high protection sun cream on a daily basis.
I want to help this boy on a permanent basis but sending a parcel from Belgium may take several weeks. If you read this post and are planning to visit the Serra Cafema camp in Northern Namibia at some point in the future, please pack some extra high protection sun block. If you are based in Europe you can always get in contact with me and I would be happy to send you some things to bring as it will be faster and more secure than if I were to send them to Namibia directly.
If you see the boy while at Serra Cafema and you have some pictures please send them to me so that I can keep track if the wounds are healing and it will enable me to keep this blog post updated on any developments on his condition.
Thank you so much!
Keywords:
Namibia,
Serra Cafema
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