Mclaine Manyepa, an 11-year-old Zimbabwean boy, was diagnosed with sickle cell anemia — a disease that causes a shortage of healthy red blood cells — when he was six.
At one stage the condition required him to undergo several blood transfusions a week. This cost his family up to $145 per 450-milliliter pint of blood in a country where 73% of the population earns less than $100 a month.
It was too heavy a burden for his parents to bear but fortunately for them, his diagnosis was soon followed by a government initiative to provide free blood at all public health centers countrywide.
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About the author
Daisy Jeremani
Daisy Jeremani is an award-winning freelance journalist based in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. She worked for The Chronicle, one of the leading local dailies for 15 years and has been freelancing for local and international outlets for the past seven. Her work has appeared in Al Jazeera Impact, Railway Gazette International, Tobacco Reporter, Poultry Site, Cigar Journal, and Topia Magazine among others.
