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Twenty years, nearly a third of my life, has been spent battling for surgery for burns survivors. Each and every child has been astonishingly brave.

Gabriel survived his grandmother tying him to a tree and setting him alight, though his gait remains awkward. Nthabiseng needlessly lost her leg after an epileptic aunt dropped her baby niece in the fire during a fit. Mohammed’s family fled war in Somalia only for him to be injured in a domestic cooking accident. The hundreds of children that we’ve helped were disadvantaged from birth by poverty. That made them more vulnerable to each tragedy that followed.

And yet, like dust, they rise.

They decide to deal with the pain. They decide that no matter what more the world throws at them, they will get up and go on.

It would be so different if people took a conscious decision to be kind. If we collectively shook off our social conditioning and managed to look at the beautiful person beneath their charred exterior.

You have to pinch yourself hard not to judge by appearance. Please try not to.

Appearance is only one challenge that these children face. Their eyesight is damaged by facial burns. Their teeth by mouths that can’t completely close. Many have hands that cannot properly turn off a tap, let alone hold something as fine as a needle and thread. Hand surgeons are at the top of our enormously-long wish list. But all of it would change if we can get our sub-Saharan children’s burns hospital designed. Land bought. And then built.

We are trying to raise thousands knowing that in the end we will need millions. But without an acorn the oak tree cannot grow. Please sponsor our walk so that surgery can go on and so that the hospital will one day exist.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.