Daniel Gasienica
Daniel's Story

Daniel joined Watsi on March 12th, 2014. 4 other people also joined Watsi on that day! Daniel's most recent donation traveled 8,500 miles to support Daniel, a boy from Kenya, to fund clubfoot surgery.

Impact

Daniel has funded healthcare for 35 patients in 10 countries.

Patients funded by Daniel

Lilibet is a one-month-old baby girl and her parents’ first child. She lives with her mother and father in rural Guatemala. Her mother is a homemaker, and her father works in construction. Her family earns less than three dollars per day, putting treatment for Lilibet out of her family’s economic reach. Lilibet was born premature in September and spent the first fifteen days of her life stabilizing in the hospital. Lilibet’s mother’s milk has not come in, a common occurrence in premature births, leaving her unable to breastfeed Lilibet and provide her baby with the nutrition she needs. Lilibet’s mother has been feeding her sugar water and occasionally milk from a neighbor. As result of Lilibet’s limited diet, she is underweight and small at just over a month old. To stabilize her condition, Lilibet was given a preliminary supply of formula which will last until a nutritionist can create a personalized nutrition plan and begin formal treatment. Lactation failure can lead to starvation, cause dehydration, and provoke electrolyte imbalances that result in seizures. Brain development occurring during this delicate time is compromised and Lilibet is at risk of long-term damage. By supplying Lilibet with formula and the mother with health education, Lilibet will receive the calories she needs to grow and thrive. One-on-one motivational education with Lilibet’s mother will prepare her for Lilibet to start eating solid food, as well as help her watch for further signs of malnutrition and other illness. Lilibet’s immune system will strengthen and she will grow up to be a healthy, energetic baby. $1,107 will cover the costs of the care Lilibet needs. Let's help raise the funds!

$1,107raised
Fully funded

Victor is 16 years old, and lives with his parents and four siblings in a rural community in the mountains of Guatemala. His father suffers from End Stage Renal Disease and is too weak to work. This means that Victor's family is dependent on him to work, but with his vision nearly non-existent, he has had a hard time working as a shoe polisher. His mother works weaving traditional Mayan textiles, which she sells to other women in the community. Although his mother works hard, they barely have enough money to pay for food for the family, making a complex and expensive surgery impossible for them to afford. Victor has previously received funding for his care for a congenital deformity. He has since recovered, but complications from a rare genetic disorder means that he still has several problems that require treatment. Our medical team suspects that he has Marfan's Syndrome, which is known to affect the eyes and cause cataracts. He has had vision problems since he was very young, but his family has never had the resources to take him to a doctor--since few doctors in rural areas are equipped to evaluate and treat eye disorders. Now, at 16, he is nearly blind and has had to stop going to school. This treatment will change not only Victor's life, but allow him to work and provide for his siblings and ailing father. He will receive a complex surgery to fix his cataracts, along with transportation to and from he hospital, lodging for him and his family near the hospital while he recovers, and all follow-up treatment. Victor shared: "I know the promise that I have made for my family, and that is why I want to see well so I can work and continue in school. It's very important."

$1,500raised
Fully funded

B. Kuma, a beautiful and adorable six-month-old girl, lives about 500 kilometers from Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Her parents are poor farmers and their income is not enough to feed the family well. Thus far, B. Kuma has been fed exclusively on breast milk. B. Kuma was born with an anorectal malformation called imperforate anus, which means she has no opening where the anus usually should be. As a result, she cannot pass stool in a normal way. Due to her condition, B. Kuma developed a bowel obstruction and had to have an emergency colostomy. A colostomy is a surgical procedure in which a piece of the colon is redirected to an alternative opening in the abdominal wall so that waste material can exit the body. However, B. Kuma has had numerous issues with the colostomy, including complications such as leakage and irritation. Her family has suffered throughout this process. They went to a number of hospitals in search of treatment, and they are very worried about their daughter's condition. Children born with birth defects-- and indeed, their parents too-- often fall victim to social stigmas and discrimination. For these reasons, B. Kuma and her parents risk social and psychological problems if she cannot be treated. "I can't pay for my child's medical bill and that worries me for the past six months," says B. Kuma's father. "I did not know what to do. But we heard from another hospital that our child can get the treatment for free at Bethany Kids (a facility run by Watsi's medical partner), and we came here hoping for help." Fortunately, we can help fund B. Kuma's $1,500 procedure, during which doctors will surgically repair her malformation. After her surgery, B. Kuma should be able to pass stool normally, eliminating the risk of future health complications and social barriers.

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Kyi Soe is a 42-year-old woman who lives with her husband in Burma. Her husband works in construction building houses, and her daughter works as a factory worker in Thailand. When Kyi Soe visited her daughter in Thailand last year, she began to experience intense pain in her abdomen and lower back. Since then, Kyi Soe's symptoms have only gotten worse-- she has been having very heavy bleeding, nausea, and cannot lay down comfortably. Despite her continuing symptoms, Kyi Soe was hesitant to go to a hospital because she knew it would be very expensive. Instead she returned to Burma and visited a local clinic. After a series of tests, the midwife told her that she would need surgery to remove the mass that was in her uterus-- surgery Kyi Soe was unable to afford. So she just left with pain medication, and an expensive medical bill. Kyi Soe had to stop working since her symptoms started. Her husband's income is not enough to even meet their daily needs, so they had to take out loans to pay for her medical bills. But without proper surgery, the mass in Kyi Soe's abdomen may grow and cause further complications. After hearing about Burma Border Projects (BBP) from her daughter's friend, Kyi Soe moved in with her daughter so that she could receive surgery. For $1500, doctors will remove the mass growing in her uterus. This will relieve her pain and other symptoms. Despite the stress that Kyi Soe and her family have had addressing her condition, they are looking forward to her finally receiving proper medical treatment. When she recovers, she will be able to return to living with her daughter in Thailand, where her husband is also hoping to find a job.

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Meet Ana, a 23-month-old girl from Guatemala. Ana and her four siblings live in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof in a rural mountainous community. She loves to play with her doll with her older siblings, and sing to her little brother. Her parents are farmers, and they cultivate cabbage, cauliflower, and green beans which they sell at the market, and eat what does not sell. Although her parents work hard, they do not make enough money to support a healthy diet for Ana and need support to help her get well—they cannot afford to give her even one egg or piece of fruit per day. Ana is not growing like she should because she has acute malnutrition. She is nearly three and a half standard deviations below the normal size for her age. This is because she has not had access to a healthy diet—her body has not gotten the protein, calories and nutrients that it needs to grow normally. Her energy is low, she has little appetite, and she has been getting sick more often than the other kids that live in the neighborhood—in the past two weeks alone she has had a fever and cough. Diarrhea, cough, and fevers can be life-threatening for children like Ana, whose immune systems are weak due to their poor diet. Her mother is worried about her, since she has noticed that she is not growing as well as her older kids. In the long term, Ana could be at risk of stunted neurodevelopment, behavioral problems, and a greater risk of chronic diseases such as hypertension and diabetes. Growth monitoring, micronutrients, food supplementation, and deworming medication will help Ana gain weight and grow taller to catch up with other children her age. All of this can be accomplished with treatment, which costs $512. Treating her now will have a large impact—she will likely be able to reach developmental milestones just like healthy kids her age. This treatment will strengthen her immune system, increase her overall caloric intake, and allow her to have more energy to play and learn. Her parents will receive the support they need to feel empowered to give her the diet she needs to grow and develop--they will receive intense and motivational nutrition classes to learn what, when, and how to feed Ana the best diet possible. This will help her start to develop better both physically and mentally, giving her the chance to live a healthy and productive life, escaping the cycle of malnutrition that is making her sick. "I hope that one day she can graduate and become a teacher," Ana's mother shared.

$512raised
Fully funded