Meet Ezekiel, a 31-year-old man from Kenya with a wife and three young children. Ezekiel and his family live on ancestral land where they plant tea. Ezekiel has a brain tumor and is a patient with our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). “Ezekiel began experiencing severe headaches in January this year. The headaches would persist for about a month and then go away for another month before he would have another severe headache," AMHF explains. "After a few months, Ezekiel started experiencing shaking in his right hand and losing his sight gradually. Currently Ezekiel is not able to hold anything steady with his right hand and can only make out shapes but has no ability to identify people or things. This has forced him to stop working and he has to be constantly accompanied by a family member wherever he goes.” They continue, “if not treated, the tumor could cause brain damage and total blindness. The pressure on Ezekiel’s brain may also result in death.” For $1,205, we can fund a surgery called a craniotomy, which will temporarily remove a bone flap from the skull in order to access the brain. This will allow a surgeon to find the brain tumor and remove as much of it as possible. Ezekiel's friends have kindly come together and agreed to fund $300 of the cost of treatment. “We expect that after the treatment and recovery, Ezekiel will be able to see again and the shaking will stop so he can get back to work,” says AMHF. In Ezekiel's words, “I can no longer see. My life has changed drastically over the last couple of months. I thank God that my condition can be treated and I can go back to work to support my family.”

Meet Adrian, a three-year-old boy from Tanzania. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), says, “Adrian likes being around other children and to play, he especially enjoys scribbling things on a piece of paper, coloring some pictures, and playing with Lego blocks.” When Adrian was two years old, “His mother saw that her son’s legs were unusually bowing outwards and that his gait was gradually changing; she started giving him some multivitamins and other herbal remedies, but nothing helped,” AMHF explains. Adrian has a condition called bilateral genu varus. This is the misalignment of the knee joint and femur, common in Tanzania as a result of the high levels of fluoride in the water. AMHF reports, “Adrian is unable to walk properly, he wiggles when walking and sometimes he falls down when he tries to run – if not treated, Adrian will have an increased risk of developing osteoarthritis at a young age.” Adrian needs a surgery called an osteotomy to re-align the bones and the joint. $940 will fund Adrian’s surgery, hospital stay, antibiotics, painkillers and recovery care. Funding also provides for Adrian’s four-month stay at Plaster House—a rehabilitation facility in which medical staff supervise the children’s care, while housemothers look after them on a daily basis. Adrian’s mother says, “I just hope that his legs can be straightened so that he can continue with normal growth, have the ability to walk to school and do other things like his siblings.”

“Four-day-old Nanyu is the last-born in a family of five children, and lives with her family in a traditional hut in Kenya,” shares our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). Nanyu was born with spina bifida, a condition that affects the development of the spinal cord. In babies with spina bifida, the protective structures that enclose the spinal cord do not develop or close properly, causing defects. Nanyu's condition has resulted in a swollen sac on her lower spinal area where the covering of the spinal cord and some of the cord itself are protruding. The exposed sac is covered by a thin membrane that is easily split, which would expose the delicate spinal tissue to the air. This condition puts Nanyu her at high risk of developing an infection, spinal cord malformation, and loss of muscle function in her lower limbs. To prevent any of these complications, Nanyu needs an operation called a spinal bifida closure. Nanyu’s family members work as pastoralists and depend of their livestock as their livelihood. However, many have been wiped out due to tribal clashes in the region. The family in constantly moving to find pasture for their few remaining livestock. Therefore, AMHF explains, “Her parents are not able to raise funds for her surgical care.” With our support, Nanyu can get the care she needs. In a spina bifida closure operation, doctors will close the skin over the exposed sac to prevent infection or further damage to the spinal cord. $805 in funding will cover Nanyu’s surgical costs, hospital stay, medicine, and physiotherapy. Nanyu's father shares, “We are praying that Nanyu gets treated. I know that our kind of life is very hard but I am happy that we were able to bring her to the hospital for care.”