Help Poor Children with Cancer to Access Treatment

The impact of the US President Executive Order to freeze for 90 days all USAID foreign programs, has been immense on many not for profits as the US Government was consistently the world’s largest humanitarian donor. (It donated 1% of its GDP.)

Kawempe Home Care management and Board had to make the heartbreaking decision of letting the majority of the staff go. Many of our staff have been with KHC for many years and have contributed enormously to the quality of care and the amazing reputation that the organisation has built over the years.

Currently there is a skeleton staff of clinicians and volunteers providing emergency medical support for clients and are also dispensing medications to existing clients.

The New Hope Children’s hostel is still operating with funding for operational costs provided through a private group. We have enormous continuous support for the hostel from you through @GlobalGiving and local groups who provide the hostel with donations of food and other items.

What we do is so important…

There are many children who do not survive their cancer mainly due to late diagnosis and financial challenges for their family. We are pleased to share with you some good news.

Josephine is 16 years old and 5 years ago she was picking fruit and fell from the tree, injuring her right leg. It appeared to mend after treatment but in 2020 she developed a painful swelling in the leg and was taken to hospital which confirmed she had chondrosarcoma, a rare bone cancer. She was referred to the Uganda Cancer Institute in Kampala.

As Josephine’s father was not involved with the family, her mother struggled with the emotional and financial burden of her treatment. with the support of the New Hope Children’s hostel Josephine was able to access treatment and she underwent 8 months of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. 

The good news is that Josephine is back home with her family and friends and is now on 6-month review schedule.

Junju is 2 years old and in July 2023 his mother noticed he had a painless mass on his abdomen. His mother took him to the local hospital and he was diagnosed with a kidney tumor. He was referred to UCI and the tests confirmed he had stage 1 cancer. He had chemotherapy every 2 weeks for six months. His family was struggling with the transport costs and through the New Hope Children’s hostel he and his mother received support of free accommodation, meals, transport to the hospital and psychosocial. After the chemo treatment Junju underwent surgery followed by radiotherapy.

Junju has successfully completed his treatment and is on a 3-month review schedule. “I am so happy my son is getting well and I am deeply grateful for the love and support we have received," says his mother.

Currently KHC operations are severely constrained and it does put many of our most vulnerable people in our community at risk. Until final decisions are made by the US Government on which programs will be supported by USAID in the future, KHC remains hopeful that the important role it plays in the communities will continue with the help of our supporters.

 2025 Little by Little Campaign - makes your donation go further..

This campaign begins on March 25 at 00:00:00 EDT and all eligible donations up to $50 USD per unique donor per organization will be matched at 50%. @GlobalGiving will provide a matching fund of $125,000 USD and the campaign will end when matching funds run out, or on March 28 at 23:59:59 whichever, comes first.

It would be wonderful if we can help more children like Junju and Josephine to beat this terrible illness. We hope you can support us just follow the link.

 Let's celebrate the power of the crowd! 

Links:

• http://Help Poor Children with Cancer to Access Treatment - GlobalGiving