Save Kacie
Kacie Buza is a 6 year old boy who was until this term in my son, Teja’s class at Daffodils Academy. Teja came home from school one day and told me about his friend Kacie who is too sick to come to school anymore. I reassured him that his friend would be okay. The next day he said his friend needed a lot of money to get better. Again I reassured him that his friend would be fine. Days later, my colleague Rose Kugonza (who also has children in the same school) asked me if I knew about Kacie’s fundraising drive. She went ahead to explain his condition to me. I knew I had heard the name before and I sympathised. When I picked Teja that day, he asked me why I hadn’t given him any money to give his friend. That’s when I made the connection. I promised to give him money to take to his classteacher, Miss Elizabeth the next day. The next day came…I forgot…and still Teja asked. This went on throughout the week. I was so distracted. At the end of the week, when I dropped him off, he said to me – “Mom, if you don’t have money, it’s okay to use money from my piggy bank, because if we don’t give Kacie some money, he will die very soon.” All my distractions took a backseat. I took Teja’s hand, walked to his class and explained to Miss Elizabeth that as I was travelling the next day, I would leave my contribution with Carol Muwanga, mom to my son’s closest friends. She understood but before she let me go, she explained to me who this young boy really was.
Kacie Imran Buza is a 6yr old boy who at 8 months was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia and has since then been in and out of hospital. The intensity of his complications however escalated last year. He has suffered 4 strokes in this period. The 1st took away his ability to speak and while he recovered from that, the 2nd & 3rd affected his ability to use his hands & legs and caused memory loss. He was then forced to drop out of school. The 4th stroke hit him in May and had him admitted in ICU. The doctors fortunately relieved him from the worst of the nightmare but the effects were severe and continue to linger on. Upon his discharge, the hospital advised that he get a bone marrow transplant as soon as possible as a 5th stroke would be catastrophic. Since then, the family has been trying to do all they can to fundraise the estimated USD100,000 needed for the operation.
Everyday little Kacie’s classmates ask Miss Elizabeth if they have collected enough money to save their friend. Everyday her answer remains the same – “Not yet”. Even now when I am not with him, Teja tells me about his friend Kacie. What breaks my heart is his empathy at such a young age of the gravity and urgency of the situation. We come from a long line of sickle cell anaemia so my understanding of this is not only deep, it’s hands on. I have watched, held and cried with loved ones as they fought an attack that I was sure was going to claim them. I have buried my cousins; my young nieces; my young nephews. I am a carrier of this gene so the fear of having and losing a child to this unforgiving disease is as imminent as it is strong. My heart goes out to Kacie’s parents, his family, his friends. I cannot start to imagine the anguish they are going through.
In Teja’s painful words, “If we don’t help Kacie very soon, he will die”. My appeal is not just a humane one, it is a personal one. May we please, through example, teach our children the power of Love; of Kindness; of Goodness. The strength in Unity; in Togetherness; in Prayer. Let us teach them what it means to believe; to hope; to have faith. Let Miss Elizabeth very soon be able to give them the one simple answer they seek. “Yes!”. Let us come together and do what we can to save this sweet boy’s life. Where I come from, Children are the responsibility of the community. Please share with your friends and ask them to share with theirs. Find all contribution details in the pictures attached.
#EveryContributionCounts #DontletKacieDie #SaveKacie
