Joseph is a 14-month-old baby who lives with his parents in Kenya. His mother is a subsistence farmer, and his father is a motorbike taxi driver.
At birth, Joseph was diagnosed with spina bifida, which has led to the development of hydrocephalus. Spina bifida refers to an incomplete closure of the spinal cord, which puts Joseph at risk of infection of exposed nervous tissue, a tethered spinal cord, loss of muscular function in his lower limbs, and intensification of his hydrocephalus, which is a build-up of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain.
Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,097 to fund spina bifida closure surgery for Joseph, which is scheduled to take place on June 21. A local NGO, APDK, is subsidizing $206 of Joseph's treatment.
Joseph's mother says, “I am devastated. I wake up every morning to the painful reminder that this isn’t a dream. I go to bed every night hopeless, exhausted from worry and despair. My one lingering thought is, 'Why my baby?'”