Franzi
Franzi's Story

Franzi joined Watsi on December 19th, 2015. 25 other people also joined Watsi on that day! Franzi's most recent donation supported Goodness, a farmer from Uganda, to fund a C-section.

Impact

Franzi has funded healthcare for 6 patients in 6 countries.

Patients funded by Franzi

This is Shane, a 20-month-old girl with malnutrition. Shane lives with her parents and two siblings in a bamboo house. Shane's father, Ronald, is a construction worker. Like other girls her age, Shane enjoys playing with her dolls and playing hide-and-seek. One out of five children under the age of five in communities served by our medical partner, International Care Ministries (ICM), is either severely or moderately acutely malnourished. Worldwide, poor nutrition is associated with nearly half of all deaths in young children. In remote communities and urban slums of the Philippines, the lack of clean water and unclean environments increase risk for potentially fatal childhood diseases. Fortunately, Shane began ICM's malnutrition treatment program on October 17, 2016. ICM runs a Home-Based Feeding program to provide nutrient-enriched food packs and ensure malnourished children get the right nutrients to regain normal weight and achieve optimum physical and mental development. After identifying a child as malnourished, staff and community volunteers make weekly visits to monitor this child’s progress. To help sustain the health of the child, ICM's professional staff educate the mother, guardian or other family members about proper nutrition, sanitation, hygiene, and organic vegetable gardening. Now, Shane's parents need help to fund this $184 treatment. "I hope her weight becomes normal and that she won't get sick," says Shane's mother. "I hope she will have good health soon."

$184raised
Fully funded

Five-month-old Abdulkerim loves playing and laughing in the home he shares with his parents and seven siblings in Ethiopia. “Abdulkerim was born with a birth defect called anorectal malformation,” our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us. This defect is characterized by the absence of an anal opening and an inability to pass stool. “Abdulkerim developed a bowel obstruction because of this condition,” explains AMHF. “An emergency colostomy was [performed] when he was three days old.” During the colostomy procedure, doctors pulled an end of the colon through a cut in the abdominal wall and sutured it in place to create an opening for passing stool. To complete his treatment, baby Abdulkerim needs two additional operations. The first surgery is an anorectoplasty to create an anal opening, followed by a colostomy closure three months later. Abdulkerim’s father, a farmer, is the sole provider for the family. “I decided to sell the one cow I have because nothing is more important than my child,” he shares. “The [other] hospital [couldn’t] do the surgery because what I had was not enough. I was broke and worried.” $1,500 covers the costs of the final two surgical procedures and inpatient care, including labs, imaging, pain medicine, and antibiotics. “We expect that after an anorectoplasty followed by a colostomy closure, Abdulkerim will be able to pass stool on his own,” says AMHF. “Coming [to AMHF] and seeing the hope through this sponsorship program, I am now full of hope, praying for the opportunity,” says Abdulkerim’s father.

$1,500raised
Fully funded