Tiavina’s Story

In October 2020, 3 year old Tiavina, along with her mother and grandmother arrived in Toliara. 

They had made the 500 km journey from their home city Ambovombe in the far south of Madagascar to seek treatment for Tiavina’s feet. They did not know Tiavina had clubfeet, or “biko” in the local Malagasy dialect, but knew that without treatment her feet would never be normal and would result in a lifetime of disability and discrimination.

Initially the family presented at the local rehabilitation centre which fortunately, recognised that Tiavina had clubfeet and needed treatment at the ADFA clinic. Lucile Rasamison, ADFA’s clubfoot manager in Madagascar, educated the family about the Ponseti method of treating clubfoot. They faced many challenges but Tiavina’s family were determined that she should receive excellent treatment for her clubfoot.

Tiavina required many plaster casts and an Achilles tendon tenotomy, but she and her family are now very happy with the results of the treatment provided by the ADFA clubfoot clinic. This gorgeous child will hopefully now be able to live her life without deformity, pain and discrimination.