Randall ThomasMONTHLY DONOR
Randall's Story

Randall joined Watsi on March 12th, 2013. Seven years ago, Randall joined our Universal Fund, supporting life-changing treatments for a new Watsi patient every month. Randall's most recent donation traveled 8,300 miles to support Lae Lae, a mother from Burma, for surgery to treat a gynecological condition.

Impact

Randall has funded healthcare for 23 patients in 9 countries.

All patients funded by Randall

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

Meet Thi Dar, a 43-year-old mother of four from Burma. “Thi Dar lives with her husband, three sons, and one daughter,” shares our medical partner, Burma Border Projects (BBP). “Her husband works as an agricultural day laborer, and she sells fried snacks outside of her house. Her oldest daughter is 12 years old and has had to stop school due to family financial problems. Her other three children are still studying in primary school.” Thi Dar has a uterine myoma, a noncancerous, fibrous growth within the tissue of the uterus. “Currently, Thi Dar has abdomen pain and body aches. She is worried about her condition and also worried about her financial problem,” reports BBP. “She has had to stop working and now depends on her husband’s salary, which isn’t enough to cover their living costs.” For $1500, Thi Dar will receive a total abdominal hysterectomy to remove her uterus and strengthen her pelvic floor, resolving her painful symptoms. This cost includes pre and post-surgical outpatient visits, hospitalization, transportation, and food. “Following treatment, Thi Dar should be able to go back to work selling snacks outside of the house, and she can take care of her children,” continues BBP. “She shouldn’t have any more abdominal pain or worries from her condition.” Thi Dar is eager to regain her strength. She tells us, “I want to get healthy and be able to support my family again.”

$1,500raised
Fully funded

Meet Carlos, a one-year-old baby from Guatemala and the youngest of four children. “He loves to play with his toy cars and make sound effects when he drives them along the floor of this house,” shares our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK). “Carlos is suffering from malnutrition. His weight and height are far below the average for his age, and he is at for the risk for long-term negative effects of malnutrition,” WK explains. “If left untreated, Carlos will not develop to his full potential physically and mentally, and will hit developmental milestones later than his peers.” WK adds that, without intervention, “Carlos’ energy will decrease, and he will be unable to develop to his full mental potential, thus limiting his ability to concentrate and go far in school. His immune system will weaken, putting him at risk for infections, such as pneumonia, and later in life he will be at higher risk for chronic illness such as diabetes and hypertension.” For $535, we can fund a comprehensive acute malnutrition treatment that will get Carlos back on track. “He will receive micronutrient and food supplementation and his parents will undergo intensive nutrition education so they feel confident continuing his care even after treatment with WK is completed. Carlos’ immune system will strengthen and he will have more energy to play with others and learn from his surroundings,” reports WK. In the words of Carlos’ mother, “I am grateful to God and to the institution for the help that you are bringing to my baby Carlos, so that he can recover. I don’t feel capable of being able to give him all the nutrients necessary for his recovery.” Let’s help Carlos regain his energy and return to a stable course of growth!

$535raised
Fully funded