Keith Blaha
Keith's Story

Keith joined Watsi on September 30th, 2015. 18 other people also joined Watsi on that day! Keith's most recent donation supported Jamelah, a girl from Philippines, to fund malnutrition treatment.

Impact

Keith has funded healthcare for 15 patients in 8 countries.

Patients funded by Keith

Jamelah is a four-year-old girl from the Philippines. She lives with her parents and grandparents. Jamelah's mother is a housewife, and her father is a laborer at a fish pond. She loves to play with her neighbors. Jamelah has been diagnosed with moderately acute malnutrition. Malnutrition threatens her growth and development and could even be fatal if not addressed. Fortunately, she will begin $184 malnutrition treatment on February 22. Jamelah will be treated by International Care Ministries (ICM), a Watsi medical partner. One out of five children under five in ICM communities is either severely or moderately 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 add risk to potentially fatal childhood diseases. ICM’s home-based feeding program provides nutrient-enriched food packs to ensure malnourished children get additional food 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. Jamelah's mother looks forward to her daughter's recovery, when Jamelah will be able to finish her studies.

$184raised
Fully funded

Meet Wellen, a 35-year-old man from Uganda who has five children. For the last fifteen years, Wellen has dealt with pain from an inguinal hernia, a condition in which part of the intestinal tissue protrudes through the lower abdomen wall. At first Wellen's hernia didn't cause him much pain. As it got worse over the years, he was able to manage his pain with medication. However, for the last year the medication has failed to help. Wellen's pain has become much worse and he has begun to experience general weakness. He has had to cut back on his farming, relying on his wife and children to do much of the work on their small farm where they grow sorghum, corn, and other crops. Despite their hardships, Wellen and his wife, Glorious, have managed to send all of their children to school, which makes them very happy. When he is not working or spending time with his family, Wellen enjoys meeting with the other men in the village savings group and sharing ideas to build the community. In order to treat his pain and prevent possible future complications, Wellen requires a $208 hernia repair surgery, during which doctors will return the herniated tissue to the abdominal cavity and fix the weakened area in the abdominal wall. While he cannot afford the entirety of the cost, Wellen has contributed $4 towards his operation. "I hope to open a small shop in the village after my surgery," he says, "so I don't have to do so much labor farming, which could make my hernia return." "I thank all the donors supporting me," says Wellen. "On my own, I would not have managed, but I am now hoping after surgery to be more useful again." Let's help fund Wellen's procedure so he can return to his work and care for his family.

$208raised
Fully funded