Tharcisse's parents were an easy target. Unscrupulous traditional "healers"—of whom there are many in Burundi, one of Africa's poorest nations—knew that their medicines would do nothing to heal Tharcisse's atrophied legs. That didn't stop them, however, from promising his desperate parents that they could cure their precious baby—for a price. Full of hope, they sold their only asset—a small plot of farmland—to pay for his costly treatments. When that money was exhausted, their infant son was no better.