Young James Mburu has not had an easy start to life. At only nine months, his entire family was involved in a deadly car accident. Thankfully, Mburu's father, who was driving, and his mother and two sisters, who were also in the car, survived with minor injuries. Mburu and a family friend sitting in the front passenger seat with Mburu in her lap were not so lucky; Mburu was thrown out of the car, and the female passenger was killed on the spot. Discovered later by rescuers, still swaddled in his baby blanket, Mburu otherwise born a healthy child, sustained severe spinal injuries, hip dislocation, and chest injuries. Mburu will never walk, he is non-verbal, and he suffers from severe muscle spasticity and frequent chest complications, all as a result of this terrible accident.
For the past seven years, Mburu has been a full-time student at the Ubuntu Special Needs Centre. He receives care from our team of physicians, occupational therapists, special needs teachers, and nutritionist, who develops nutrient-rich meals using produce from our organic garden for all the kids in our special-needs program.
Since joining us, Mburu has made good progress — he can now sit with support and makes attempts to turn his head from side to side. While non-verbal, Mburu can look at his carer, smile and make other facial expressions, and make sounds to express emotion.
Sadly, for all of us, Mburu has spent a significant amount of time at home since the advent of the global pandemic since our Centre's COVID-mandated closure in March of 2020. We resumed one-to-one occupational therapy mid-last year, taking all the precautions to protect our kids and our team. But with Mburu's health severely immuno-compromised due to frequent chest infections, he has remained mostly at home for his well-being. Mburu returned to the Centre when Kenyan schools reopened in January, but as we faced a deadly COVID-19 third wave and the Kenyan government, under a Presidential Directive, called for all schools to close from 26th March 2021, Mburu is back at home.
Several years back, Mburu and his family faced another tragedy when his mother and her baby died during childbirth. Mburu's father is incredibly supportive, and his two elder sisters and a home carer are responsible for Mburu's full-time care. Thanks to the generous support of Tribe Heart and our global community of friends, supporters, and doctors, we purchased Mburu a wheelchair to be wheeled out of the house and around the compound where he lives. Thankfully, Mburu and his family only live a 5-minute drive from our Centre. Our community health worker, Emily Wairimu, and our two occupational therapists, Jane Wanja and Hamisi Mohammed make home visits.
Mburu with his sister
"It takes a village to raise a child", is a well-known is an African proverb that we live by and is part of our guiding principle of Ubuntu — I am because we are. We see first hand, every day, that it takes an entire community to raise a child, and this interconnectedness, allows us all to reach our full potential, both individually and as a society.
This Tribe Week, and always, we celebrate and thank you, the members of Tribe Heart, for your donations that make miracles happen in Mburu’s life and the lives of kids like Mburu.
To support Mburu, and other Ubuntu Kids in our special needs program, donate here & join Tribe Heart!
