Monthly Archives: May 2019

Oleksandr receives essential scoliosis therapy

Oleksandr grew up small village in Ukraine with his mom and younger brother. When Oleksandr was eight years old, he was diagnosed with scoliosis, a deformation of the spine. Instead of forming a straight line, his spine was slowly taking on an “S” shape. Over the years, his mother tried many nonsurgical treatments for Oleksandr, hoping to alleviate his pain.

By age 14, his condition worsened significantly. His spinal curve was visible, and he felt a sharp pain in his back while sitting and standing. One of his rib cages became higher than the other, which caused breathing and heart problems. Surgery was the only solution to these complicated issues.

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Thanja scores in top 0.1% on national exams

Thanja, a sponsored child from our Imphal site in India, just scored in the top 0.1% on his national high school graduation exams, placing 23rd out of 37,138 students.

A shy village boy, Thanja grew up lacking basic necessities. Before he was sponsored, he had no hope of pursuing education, and limited his dreams. With sponsorship, Thanja was able to attend school, receive proper care, and start planning for his future.

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Mother and medical student: Nadia’s journey

With Mother’s Day quickly approaching, we’d like to recognize all of the incredible and hard working mothers around the world. Despite poverty and obstacles, we see the love of mothers shine through and persevere in every site in which we work.

In Paraguay, especially in poorer areas, many children are raised in single parent families, with mothers usually taking the role as primary caregiver. Nadia, from our CMAVIL site in Paraguay, was raised by her mother, Bernarda. When Nadia was very young, she had constant issues with her ears, and required expensive surgeries. Her mother was determined to help Nadia, and declared: “I will get those surgeries if I have to pick up every can in the city to pay for it!”

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