Helping children with hydrocephalus

From The Mayo Clinic website:

Hydrocephalus is the buildup of fluid in the cavities (ventricles) deep within the brain. The excess fluid increases the size of the ventricles and puts pressure on the brain.

Cerebrospinal fluid normally flows through the ventricles and bathes the brain and spinal column. But the pressure of too much cerebrospinal fluid associated with hydrocephalus can damage brain tissues and cause a range of impairments in brain function.

Hydrocephalus can happen at any age, but it occurs more frequently among infants and adults 60 and over. Surgical treatment for hydrocephalus can restore and maintain normal cerebrospinal fluid levels in the brain. Many different therapies are often required to manage symptoms or functional impairments resulting from hydrocephalus.

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I have come across children with hydrocephalus on numerous occasions over the years and have been able to offer financial support and access to appropriate services in several cases. In 2004 I met a boy living in a closet in an orphanage for 700 children in Kabul, Afghanistan. Unfortunately due to the circumstances in the country there was no possibility of getting treatment for the boy (Hamid) except for pain killers and extra staff support. His biggest wish was to go to the zoo and we did take him there. The woman in the burkha was the nurse:

In 2008 I met two children with hydrocephalus in the Kanti Children's Hospital in Kathmandu, Nepal. We made a contribution to help with their medical expenses:

While traveling in Cambodia in 2011 we came across this child in a village with a severe case of hydrocephalus. By the time we got back to Phnom Penh a few weeks to seek help the baby girl had already died:

Finally, on December 27th, 2018 we found this child with hydrocephalus in Angeles, The Philippines. The mother reported that the boy had never been seen by a doctor. We took some photos and got her contact number and we donated 500 Pesos (about $10 USD - she had never received such a large donation). 

It took me about 3 weeks but finally I have located a pediatric neurologist and we are able to schedule an appointment (next month) for a diagnosis and hopefully follow-up treatment which can be a shunt to relieve the pressure in the brain or surgery. Stay tuned, I will update this post when we know more.

James.parents.Bamban.Philippines.1.17.2019

Hi,

Just sharing this story. My brother-in-law is named James. He drives a
trike that I bought him to earn a living (photo is not James, just showing 
you what a trike looks like):


He is poor. But his parents are really poor. James helps them what
little he can contribute.

They have to support two grandchildren because the two separate
fathers either refused to support their children or could not afford
but a pittance. The mother of these kids died in childbirth (of course
of the the younger child). Two boys. One of them never speaks 
(ages 12 and 10). She died in the same year that Rossel's brother 
Jennel was murdered in 2010.

So the grandparents have to raise them. The father is 64 years old and
in poor health but he cannot afford his medication for high blood
pressure and god knows what else.

He gets up at 4am, walks 15 minutes to the jeepney:




The jeepney costs 67 cents each way. After a 30 minute minute ride
then he walks then he walks to the bus station. Then he spends the 
next 6 hours selling dried pork on buses waiting to depart and on bus 
platforms. On a good day he makes 300 Pesos ($6). Then he goes 
home by the same route. He does this 5 days per week.


Anyway, today we gave them $200 (10,400 Pesos). We asked them how 
they would spend the money - they said: "rice, school fees and medicine" 
(I have asked hundreds of people around the world why they are poor. 
The most common answer is: "no rice".

They were in tears. Later in the day Rossel and I talked about the
millions and millions of people we will never meet - in The
Philippines and elsewhere - with similar and worse problems.

Here are a few photos from today. James is on the far left, then James' 
mother, then me, then his Dad. I gave them an extra 200 Pesos ($3.60) 
and then told them to give to it someone poor in their neighborhood. 
Within 10 minutes they told me they gave it to the boy next door who 
was born with one arm. His photo is also here, below. The last photo 
shows James' father giving the boy 200 Pesos.

Querlyn and Kayce Family Small Business Angeles, The Philippines $230 donation

Good afternoon, Brother. Here are the pictures that my mother Querlyn bought. So, she bought all of that for the juices, french fries and other snacks. She also bought gas stove for cooking and also the stainless are were the foods are going to put. Then the tupperwares are for the candies for the store. 

It's not end there, she will also gonna buy goods for the sari sari store maybe next week. So, I will going to send pictures again to you brother 😊 Thank you again, brother 😘

Yangsang Tso

Dear Uncle,

I am sending you a little girl's medical treatment proposal, if you have any further questions please ask any time!

Tashi Delek!

Namkha,

Yangsang Tso from Gudei village, she is 8 years old and grade two in the local village primary school. Last Friday was her duty for cleaning the classroom, when Yangsang and her classmate were chopping the firewood Yangsang got serious injured with her ring finger. At the top of the ring finger’s bone in part.

Her parents took her to see the doctor in Rebgong county town; the doctor said that he would take out the part from the last joint.

She is so young and ring-finger is very important for Yangsang when she get marry, people will call her fingerless girl, this will effect her marriage. Therefore, she needs her finger back. 

The good news is Yangsang was transferred from local hospital to a specialist hospital in Xining, the doctors could do better surgery for her, even they leave the nail as well.

The bad news is the cost is very high; the parents already gave 10,000RMB when Yangsang was hospitalized in the hospital. The doctors are asking another 10,000RMB ($1450) for the continuing treatment.

She needs 100Friends’ help for yangsamg’s finger back. Thanks!

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100 Friends donated $1450 for Yangsang Tso's successful operation

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Hi Uncle,

I have visited Yangsang Tso two days ago and she was back from the hospital, her finger is getting better and she started her school again. She was also helping a little girl with Tibetan alphabets. 

the nail is starting growing and the good news is there is no pain at all.

Yangsang Tso 3 months after her successful surgery

Children's Orphanage in Yangon, Burma

November 27, 2018

Just an update on the orphanage. They have 200 children aged between 3 -20 yrs. They have 50 acres of land and they use it well to grow some crops, goats, mushrooms and chickens. This is one of the best programsI have seen. They have started vocational courses involving clothes making, basketry etc This I am hoping to develop to help give them a trade or at least knowledge of how to survive in their future. The centre near Yangon has been going from 1976 but funds have been drying up a lot after a lot of initial funding. They completely understand this and instead of trying to rely on donations they actively look for ways of self-funding eg they built 5 huge buildings to house chickens. The well-known CP chickens and eggs loaned them the money to build the houses and took back the loan from each batch of chickens. This started in 1994 and now the houses are starting to decay. However, they share the profits with CP and gain a lot of money to pay for rice for the children to eat.
> As I say I am really impressed with the attitude and forw3ard thinking of this home. Initially I am looking to make wash basins for the girls as at the moment they only use small plastic bowls, I have sent a photo. 15 basins would do as they wash in shifts. I would also like to put in wall or ceiling fans in their sleeping rooms (photo). Thirdly there is an area they have designated as a play area. It would make a great project for CAS, International Awards community action etc. Where the students can design make and build a playground (I did this in Kinabalu very successfully). Or supply the equipment and I could get some volunteers to build it. I am very happy to put in as much input and background if anyone is interested.