Loving children comes easily for me. I see them and can fall in love in an instant.
The past 2 months, I have had the privilege of working with kids at the Hotpec Orphanage in Cameroon, Africa. Hotpec cares for true orphans, HIV kids, disabled, and children that have been abandoned. It has been both joyous and painful to work with this wonderful “family.”
The children are no longer faces, they have names and they have stories. I would like to share one of these stories with you.
Meet Achiever. Achiever is 5 years old. He was abandoned by his father at 2 days old because his mother is mentally ill. He was given the name Achiever by Mama Grace who works at the orphanage. She saw something in him and declared that he would be great one day. He was taken to the doctor at 9 days old because the orphanage knew something was wrong with him but they were not sure what it was. He spent the first 3 years of his life in a lot of pain and did not start to crawl until he was more than 3 years old. At this point, he began to thrive and gain weight. He was walking by age 4. Flash forward a few years to 2011. I noticed that Achiever’s legs were unusually twisted and requested that we take him to a local bone Doctor. We discovered that he has a severe case of Rickett’s and will need surgery. He also had scabies and some other health issues. Because of his numerous health issues, he is too ill to operate now. We were given medication and a diet for him to follow for the next 3 months. At that point the Dr. will re-evaluate to see if he is strong enough to have surgery.
We will need to raise approximately $2000 to cover medical expenses, (including the cost for the surgery) medication, and the cost of someone to care for him in the hospital and prepare meals for him. (this will also cover food costs for him and the care-giver.) Hospitals in Cameroon do not provide meals for patients or nurses to care for you in your room. This must be provided by the patient’s family or friends. The orphanage has 115 children and 7 or 8 paid staff members working for them. The rest are volunteers. They are doing all they can to care for the kids, the finances to cover this are not available to them at this time.
We are trusting God that Achiever will have total healing in every area. Will you help us to help him?
Checks can be made to the National Christian Foundation. All gifts are tax deductible. Donations can be mailed to Toya Mac – P.O. Box 1735, Gainesville, GA 30506 – Please note fund ID 721433 -Achiever on the memo line of the check.
Please don’t worry about the size of your donation. Any amount helps and will make a significant difference in the life of this precious little boy.
