18-year old Kwitonda Olivier had a dream of becoming one of the best models in their country but 6-months ago, his dream was cut short after he developed a rare kind of skin condition.
It all began like a normal skin rash and whenever he scratched, it spread to different parts of his skin and now his whole skin has been affected.
The young Rwandan man was taken to hospital where he was given painkillers and informed that treatment required a large amount of money. His poor family could however not manage to raise the funds thus forcing him to bear with the condition.
Olivier has three siblings. They live with their disabled mother who walks with the help of a prosthetic as she looks for means to provide for her family, after their father abandoned them and went for another woman.
The 18-year old has lost hope and focus because of the condition. The rashes are painful and make his skin rough. Whenever he passes people stare at him and say that his skin is like that of reptiles and this has affected his self esteem and confidence. The worst part is that his friends no longer want to associate with him.
“I am not living a good life. My face is no longer the same. All my friends turned their backs on me, I no longer go to school,” Olivier told Afrimax.
He uses a particular lotion to calm his skin whenever it becomes itchy. He is however requesting for good Samaritans to help him so that he can get treatment and go back to a normal life.
“If there was any good Samaritan out there, with support and medical attention, I can recover and restore my look,” Olivier pleaded.
His mother, Jeannette, says that some people had tried to help them by forming a contributions group and a lot of money was raised but within no time, they were removed from the group.
“It was a lot of money as we could see people’s contributions,” she said.
Since her husband left, he has never returned to check on his children and neither does he send child support.
The mother of four lost one of her legs when she accidentally stepped on a land mine at the age of 12 years.
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