By Ufuoma Emerhor | CEO/Project Leader
As we write this our last report to you, we are so grateful for you, for all you have done to support this cause. We know that even beyond giving, you told your friends about our appeal, about Malik, and even about us, Fair Life Africa Foundation, and what we are doing, with the help of GlobalGiving, to impact our world.
Thank you so much!
Yes, you read right. This is our last report on this project to raise funds for a kidney transplant surgery for Malik. Sadly, it's not because we have raised our goal of N12,000,000, but because the bar has been raised due to the degradation of the Naira against the $. We met with Malik's consultant at LUTH last Monday, and she informed us then that the cost of his surgery, which doesn't cover after care, is N21,000,000! That means that, instead of the 25% we thought we had raised, we have actually raised 14.5% - N3,040,000 (rounded up).
In light of this, we had to review our strategy and make the hard decision to end our appeal on GlobalGiving. Our meeting with the consultant on Monday helped us clarify some things about Malik's case, which you also may be wondering about...
1. Malik is an end-stage kidney patient, whose condition has been stabilized from when he first came to them at LUTH in critical condition.
2. He is in need of a kidney transplant, which is the most effective means to improving his health and life chances. Dialysis only slows down the detoriation of his health and kidney function, and even a transplant cannot fully restore it, but allow him to function in better health.
3. Even though he is able to pee and is looking much better, he is still an end-stage patient, which means that without dialysis treatment and ultimately a transplant, he will die, if not from the kidney failure itself, from related issues, like his high blood pressure, which is a silent killer.
So, Malik does need the help and the surgery, as soon as we are able to raise the amount needed. We have discussed with our trustees and also reached out to GlobalGiving about using the funds raised so far to fund Malik's current dialysis treatment and related medications. This will really make a difference for Malik and his family, because they have been struggling to maintain his regular treatment, and at times, Malik has been unable to take his medications, which have led to avoidable rise in his blood pressure.
Malik will be able to work and add to his family's income if he doesn't have to worry about when he will be able to take his medications or receive dialysis.
This will also allow us more time to reach out to other organisations who can help us raise the needed funds for a surgery, or even partner with a hospital to get it done at a much discounted fee. However, it didn't seem right to keep the crowdfunding going for a surgery, especially when there is an immediate need for treatment.
We hope this is understandable and that we will continue to have your support. Feel free to reach out to us if you have any concerns about this update. You can email us at support @ fairlifeafrica.org.
We would also like to extend a humongous thank you from Malik. He was so grateful when we accompanied him to see his consultant last Monday. He had been walking about feeling fine until the consultant informed him that his blood pressure was so high he should have been admitted. It turned out, he had skipped some medication he needed. With our new approach, he should be in better health, and we are hopeful to still raise the funds for his surgery through another means.
God bless you so much!
Links:
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