Silent auction for Little Stomas

Parents’ concernt for their daughter’s condition inspired them to establish a non-profit organisation Little Stomas, in support of children suffering from a type of bowel disease.

Gera and Murray Louw’s daughter was born with severe cloacal exstrophy in 2012. This means she was born with some of her organs outside her body such as her bladder, appendix and colon, and part of the ileum (which is part of the small intestine) were missing.

Over the past five years, the Louw family became aware of the many challenges families in similar situations face and identified the need for greater awareness and support.

Gera said the main reason she started the organisation was to assist families who deal with children born with abnormal functioning of their bladder, bowls and genitals.

In some instances, it can result in a medical procedure called a stoma being performed on a child. A stoma is a surgically created opening in the large intestine that allows the removal of faeces out of the body, bypassing the rectum and draining into a pouch or other collection device.

“Managing a premature baby or small child who has a stoma is extremely challenging, one feels alone and hopeless,” she said.

“As parents, we didn’t experience support during this very dark and desperate time. Our daughter suffered severely and we were compelled to raise support structures in order to assist other families in these kinds of circumstances.”

A silent auction was hosted at The Linden Co-Op in partnership with Kreatif Fine Art, where artwork was being auctioned. The co-founder of the co-op, Kalika Painter, said the store only stocks local products and designers from South Africa in an attempt to help their businesses.

Through her friendship with Gera, she was exposed to her struggles and journey with her daughter’s condition.

“Gera’s struggles are a huge financial burden to deal with, an operation can cost up to R90 000. Her challenges weighted really heavy on my heart which encouraged me to support her. Establishing her own NPO will have an impact on other people in society faced with the same challenges, and that is one of the reasons which encouraged us to get involved financially,” said Painter.

Gera added that the response from people at the auction impacted their personal journey. They were also approached by people in different fields offering their assistance to the organisation.

She said she is extremely grateful and overwhelmed by people’s generosity.

For more information on how to donate towards Little Stomas, visit their website and Facebook page.

Details: geralouw@icloud.com