"A surgery will bring her back to life and will open so many doors for this young child," says Dora's schoolteacher. 14-year-old Dora is a stellar young woman and student from Ghana. "Dora loves to play sports and is passionate about becoming a doctor or nurse," says our medical partner, Ortho FOCOS. "She is a brilliant student and is always amongst the top of her class." For several years, Dora has lived with scoliosis- a sideways curvature of the spine that leads to pain and difficulty with walking. Dora is often teased by her peers when she cannot participate in activities such as sports. The FOCOS Patient A Fund has contributed $16,500 for Dora's surgery, which will correct her spine and eliminate all symptoms. However, an additional $1500 is needed to cover the full cost. Dora's family is not in the position to pay the additional funds. "Her father sells secondhand clothes and her mother is a petty trader," says Ortho FOCOS. "The whole family lives in a single room in a suburb of Ghana." Dora's teacher introduced her to our medical partner, and now there is hope for her full recovery. Let's help make it possible!

Seven-year-old Dorcas is from Tanzania. She is the fifth born out of five children. Our medical partner tells us that she is shy with grown-ups but chatty with other kids, and that she likes to draw and color pictures. Dorcas’ parents are small scale farmers who also have two milking cows. Their milk is for home use and the farm produce gets split into two, with half for home use and half for selling. Six months ago, Dorcas developed a pimple on her foot. When she scratched it, it bled a bit and turned into a small wound which her mother thought would heal quickly. Instead, the wound continued to grow and is now gangrenous. Dorcas cannot walk at all. Our partners at the African Mission Healthcare Foundation have established that Dorcas' leg must be amputated below the knee to save the rest of it and prevent the infection from spreading. “My daughter has not been able to walk for a long time now. I just hope that she will be able to walk, even by using crutches,” says Dorcas’ mother. With three children going to school, Dorcas’ parents cannot afford to pay for the surgery their daughter needs. $800 will cover the full cost of surgery, medication, hospitalization, and a new prosthetic lower leg so Dorcas can walk again.

For the past eight years, Cheru has suffered from mitral stenosis, a condition that severely narrows his heart’s mitral valve and backs up blood into his lungs. He used to sell goods at the Gurage market in Ethiopia, but his weakening heart forced him to quit his job. If left untreated, Cheru’s condition could result in heart failure. Fortunately, Cheru’s condition is treatable. However, he needs to fly to India to receive a Percutaneous Transvenous Mitral Commissurotomy (a nonsurgical technique for the treatment of patients with symptomatic mitral stenosis). A Bollywood aficionado and avid Manchester United fan, Cheru is usually in good spirits and tries his best to cheer up other heart patients. Still, it is bittersweet for Cheru to see his healthy friends get married and start families: He wants to start a family of his own, but he now spends most days laying in bed. And since he’s had to spend his life savings on medical bills, he’s worried that he won’t have enough money to support a family. Cheru hopes we will be able to raise the money for his treatment in India. He can’t wait to return to his job at the market and one day, start a family. Let’s get Cheru the treatment he needs to thrive!