“It is a miracle to have our son alive with us today,” shares Jonathan’s father. Jonathan is a friendly six-year-old boy from Tanzania who just began school! “Jonathan likes to play with cars and whenever he sees a hammer, he lives to hit pieces of wood with it,” our medical partner, African Medical Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), tells us. “When he was nine months old, he crawled all the way from the living room to the kitchen and found a pot of boiling water on a small kerosene stove,” AMHF continues. “Not knowing that the water was hot, he put his hand in the pot. As he quickly removed his hand out of the hot water, the pot tilted and fell pouring the hot water on his face and other parts of his body.” After much medical care, the wounds have healed but he developed a contracture on his left thumb, which “makes it difficult for him to fully use his left hand.” Jonathan’s father is a carpenter and his mother grows some green bananas and maize on a small piece of land outside their house, using the produce mainly for food but sometimes selling excess at the local market. According to AMHF, “Their income is not enough to cover the cost of the operation which Jonathan needs.” Without treatment, Jonathan will never have full function of his hand and he may experience some pain due to the backward pulling of the thumb. “He is doing well despite the scars which bother him sometimes, especially the one on his face. What we mostly wish is for him to have the ability to properly use his left hand,” shares Jonathan’s father. Together we can support them by covering the cost of the $550 single contracture release treatment Jonathan needs! “Jonathan will have a more functional hand and will also have a reduced risk of developing pain on his arm later on due to the pulling effect of the thumb,” explains AMHF.

Meet Min, a 10-year-old from Nepal! Min lives with his parents, grandparents, four brothers and sister. He loves school and right now his favorite subject is Nepali. Min also loves to play volleyball. Min was sitting on a bench at school when it broke. His tibia also broke in the process and now his thigh is twisted at a very odd angle due to an incomplete union of the pieces of the bone. Min has a limited range of motion and is experiencing pain and swelling. For $1,240, a surgery can be performed that will repair the joint and give Min full range of motion again. Let's help Min get back on the volleyball court!

Kelvin is a very shy 10-year-old boy, but he comes out of his shell when playing football. A recent injury to his leg caused a piece of his bone to break off and protrude through the skin. His body was unable to heal the wound and it turned into a bone infection. Kelvin had to stop playing football because the infection became so painful it was impossible for him to walk. Kelvin wants to be a small business owner when he grows up. In order to be able to walk to school and continue his studies, Kelvin will need to undergo surgery to remove the unhealthy bone and to implant antibiotic beads to fight the infection. When Kelvin was four, his father passed away and he went to live with his aunt and uncle. They are poor farmers with four other kids and can’t afford to get Kelvin the treatment he needs. For $700, we can give Kelvin a chance to get back on the field!

Phnahach and Huynarn are a mother and daughter pair, 41 and 10 years old respectively. They both suffer from congenital ptosis, a condition that causes droopy eyelids, vision loss, and chronic fatigue. Phnahach has already lost 25% of her peripheral vision, Huynarn has lost 15%, and they both experience frequent fatigue. Without treatment, Phnahach and Huynarn’s symptoms will continue to get worse, preventing them from living normal, productive lives. Fortunately, doctors at Children’s Surgical Centre can perform surgery to lift Phnahach and Huynarn’s eyelids, which should enable them to see clearly and relieve their fatigue. Phnahach and Huynarn come from an extremely remote area of Cambodia. Along with Huynarn’s father, the family makes it’s living as potato farmers. They are part of a small ethnic minority mountain tribe and neither Phnahach nor Huynarn can speak Khmer, the Cambodian language. Luckily, Huynarn’s father speaks a little Khmer, and he took time off from farming to help them make the 14-hour journey for treatment. Phnahach and Huynarn’s doctors say, “he has been instrumental in translating between the doctors and the mother/daughter pair.” The whole family hopes Phnahach and Huynarn will receive treatment and get healthy soon.