Sarah Pierre is 7 years old. She was born with hydrocephalus and received a ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt when she was born to drain excess cerebrospinal fluid. Last week Sarah became ill, and it was apparent that her shunt had become infected. Sadly, there were so many barriers for Sarah and her family as they sought out medical care.
First, Sarah’s family had to travel through gang territory to reach the hospital. Then they waited days for a physician to arrive who was trained to perform this procedure. Next, Sarah’s school administrator risked his life to take a boat to another part of Haiti to find blood donations for the surgery and a replacement shunt.
Yet the most difficult barrier to overcome was the $635 hospital fee that needed to be paid before surgery could begin. For many families in Haiti who live on $2 per day, paying $635 for surgery is completely out of reach. Sarah’s school administrator said, “Because of the cost of about $635, the parents saw the child’s life was over.”
Yet God had other plans!
If you are a World Wide Village sponsor, a portion of the funds you donate each month is put toward medical care for students in the sponsorship program. This includes life-saving surgery for children like Sarah!
Sarah’s school administrator followed up by saying, “Because of the cost of about $635, the parents saw the child’s life was over. But God has helped us to save Sarah.”
Praise God that Sarah made it through surgery and should be going home soon. To all of our amazing student sponsors… thank you for changing lives!