Hello again, friends – it’s been a while, but we’re back with an update and some positive news.
But before we get stuck into all that, we’d like to start with an apology. It’s been far too long since we’ve reached out with an update. The last three years have been tough for most of the world, and things have been challenging here, too. But that hasn’t stopped us from doing what we can to help others.
Over the last few years, we have managed to build six houses for families that desperately needed a helping hand. Living in terrible conditions and struggling to get ahead, most of these families also care for their severely disabled children.
We are so grateful that we’ve been in a position to help them out. These building projects have been very successful, and we’d like to thank everyone who has donated to enable us to make this dream come true.
How did we discover these families in the first place? One of our projects involves visiting small villages and giving wheelchairs to those who need them – mainly to children suffering from cerebral palsy. This is a game changer for families, easing some of the burden of the caregivers and providing the kids with a chance to participate more in family and social life.
During the last few years, we have distributed so many wheelchairs and witnessed first-hand the smiles that come from such a simple thing. We would love to carry on with these projects – mostly focusing on children with cerebral palsy – as we can see the huge difference we are making.
We’ve been working with Harapan Jaya for many years, and their specialist centre is such a rewarding place. They have the most amazing facilities and a department that focuses on physiotherapy. We have been able to bring children to their facility for treatment, and in some cases, operations are possible to help regain mobility.
One of our standout cases this year was a child named Melva. She was born with club feet and a club hand (pictured below). We met Melva during the pandemic, at which time surgeons were not able to travel to Sumatra to perform the necessary surgery.
But we stayed in touch with Melva’s family and took action as soon as we could. We are proud to say that her life has now been totally transformed. Everyone involved in Melva’s recovery did an amazing job – from the donors who paid for the procedure to the outstanding team of surgeons who carried it out. Not to mention Harapan Jaya, who cared for little Melva for many months. Such an amazing team effort from so many people. We are delighted to say that Melva can now walk with straight feet and get on with her life again.
Last year, we were able to carry out a few cleft operations, but this year, we are back in full force. On the 30th of October, we will welcome a team of surgeons to Harapan Jaya to perform as many operations as possible in the time they have.
Our team has spent the last month travelling to the most remote parts of Sumatra.We have already found dozens of children in need of surgery and expect to find many more in the coming days.
We would like to sincerely thank you so much for visiting our web page and generously supporting our cause. We are always updating our work on Facebook and Instagram, so please follow us on those platforms to get first-hand news on our up-and-running projects.
