Wuqu’ Kawoq

Guatemala

UNICAR

Patients at UNICAR

Cristel is an only child from Guatemala, and a joy to her parents. Cristel loves to eat beans, which are her favorite food, color and paint, and play with her dolls. Her father works in a clothing factory in Guatemala, and her mother takes care of Cristel, cooks, and cleans. Cristel lives with her mother and extended family in one-room house in a Maya Quiche village in the mountains. The family loves to spend their free time going to church, where Cristel has joined the choir. Cristel was born with several heart defects. One of them is a hole in her heart, which makes her heart work twice as hard to pump oxygenated blood into her body. She also has a defect in the veins that take blood from the lungs to the heart, which connect to the heart in the wrong place, meaning that oxygenated blood enters and leaves from the wrong part of the heart, depriving her body of oxygenated blood. If she does not receive immediate treatment, she could go into heart failure, have high blood pressure in the lungs (which is damaging), dangerous irregular heart rhythms, or a stroke. Although Cristel's father works hard, he makes only a couple dollars per day, making this life-saving surgery a luxury they cannot afford for their daughter. This surgical intervention will repair the defects in Cristel's heart and veins. $1,169 in funds will allow Watsi's medical partner, Wuqu' Kawoq, to provide surgeons and necessary medication for Cristel's condition. Once her heart can function properly, she will be able to run and play like a normal child, and her mother will be able to send her to school without worry. She will be able to run and play for long periods of time, and be more independent, allowing her to attend school. This treatment will greatly improve her quality of life now, and prevent her from facing the life-threatening consequences of her defects later on. Her mother shares: "I hope this surgery helps Cristel to go to school, so she can study and one day be a secretary."

$1,169raised
Fully funded