Ammar's Story

Ammar joined Watsi on June 20th, 2015. Eight years ago, Ammar joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Ammar's most recent donation supported Gathoni, an 18-month-old from Kenya, to fund a debridement and skin graft surgery for her burns.

Impact

Ammar has funded healthcare for 37 patients in 10 countries.

Patients funded by Ammar

Khin is a 39-year-old woman who lives with her family in Hpa-An Township, Karen State, Burma. Both her children are in preschool. She and her husband are subsistence farmers, growing rice during the rainy season on rented land. The rest of the year, her husband collects leaves used to make roofs, works as a daily labourer or collects branches to sell. Khin was born with a scar the size of an ant bite on her upper lip. Her parents thought that it would disappear or heal on its own but the scar developed into a growth and increased in size. Her parents passed away when she was young and after that she went to live with her brother’s family. By the time she was around 20 years old, the growth had become large and soft, covering the area between her upper lips and her nose. When the pain became unbearable in 2005, her uncle dropped her off at Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) in Thailand, a free clinic close to where her uncle used to work. At this point, the growth had become so large that dragged her upper lip down and extended into her nostrils. At MTC, she was seen by doctors and medics, before she was diagnosed with a hemangioma. At this point, the growth had worsened, and she was bleeding from her lips. In April 2006, Khin went to Chiang Mai Hospital and had the hemangioma removed surgically. The growth later has returned. Overtime, the hemangioma has increased in size and become hard. It has now expanded into Khin’s nostrils, especially her left nostril, which causes her to have difficulty breathing at times. She feels uncomfortable but is not in pain. Sometimes she also feels like she has a blood clot in her nostrils during her nosebleeds. Because the nosebleed can start at any time and can last anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes, her life revolves around managing her nosebleeds. She is unable to work or sleep properly, and if she is about to have a nosebleed, she is unable to eat. The nosebleeds have also affected her ability to earn an income for her children and continues to impact her social life. “When I socialise, I do not feel comfortable and some people think I have a disease that I can infect them with,” said Khin. “So, I hope to get better after surgery, and I hope I will no longer have nosebleeds. I don’t want to bleed, and I want to socialise with my friends and family happily. [Right now] my friends won’t even touch me.”

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Ashraf is a baby from Tanzania. Ashraf’s mother only had a chance to study up to class seven. She successfully completed her primary education but she couldn’t continue with her studies due to financial challenges. Her father passed away the year she was still waiting for her results so that she can join secondary. She would have loved to be a nurse if she had the chance to continue with her studies. Ashraf’s grandmother having been left with six children to look after by herself, she decided to start small business of a hair salon and selling second hand clothes. She also did small scale farming of maize and vegetables with the help of all of her children. Through this she has been able to provide for them. Ashraf’s mother has been working on their farm with her siblings ever since. Ashraf’s mother had been in a relationship with Ashraf’s father for two months when she got pregnant, she informed Ashraf’s father but he denied that the pregnancy was not his and he stopped any kind of communication with Ashraf’s mother. Through the help of his grandmother, Ashraf’s mother was able to deliver safely Ashraf has clubfoot of both his feet. Clubfoot is a condition in which the foot is twisted out of shape. This causes difficulty walking and even wearing shoes. Fortunately, Ashraf traveled to visit our medical partner's care center, Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on October 08. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $890 to fund Ashraf's clubfoot repair. After treatment, he will be able to walk easily and wear shoes when he gets older. Ashraf’s mother says, “My family and I are unable to afford any of the surgeries my son needs please help support us to cover the treatment cost.”

$890raised
Fully funded