Tammam is a 23-year-old girl who lives in the village of Al-Aliyat, southeast of Homs. She comes from a poor family, her father works in the fields. Life has not been easy for her. In 2018, she was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, which forced her to undergo long and exhausting treatment, not only physically but also psychologically and financially. The disease changed her life: she herself admits it. She was studying to obtain her secondary school diploma when this sudden change in her daily life came and for a year she had to leave everything on hold. Dialysis forced her to go to Homs twice a week. A move that was certainly not easy in today’s Syria, which also entailed an economic “burden” that weighed heavily on her family’s limited income. They had already had to face a similar situation years before, when Tammam’s sister had suffered from the same kidney failure. But she then underwent a kidney transplant, which has allowed her to live a normal life since then. Unfortunately, the conditions of Syrian society are no longer what they once were and those who, like Tammam, should seek treatment but cannot, are paying the price: the cost of medicines is very high , as is the cost of travelling from one city to another. Tammam needed help, so she turned to the Seeds of Hope centre in Homs, where she found financial support to continue receiving treatment but also a family atmosphere that gave her security and confidence in the future. Until a great opportunity came for her too: the kidney transplant operation, which she faced with great courage. After the surgery, Tammam knows that new doors of hope have opened in her life. She has resumed her studies at university, now she is in her final year and is moving forward with the confidence that she can make her dreams come true: teaching and building a family. The operators of Semi di Speranza say about her: “What struck us the first time Tammam came to visit us was her smile, despite all the pain and fatigue caused by the dialysis treatment”.
Care, affection and hope
The economic conditions in Syria do not allow a large part of the population access to treatments that are sometimes essential for recovery. If Tammam can now plan her future as a girl, it is also thanks to the support of Seeds of Hope.
