Donald is a ten month old baby boy living with his mother in Ghana. The mother,
Favour, is only eighteen years old and was seventeen when Donald was born. His
father abandoned Favour when he found she was pregnant. Favour lost her job and was
reduced to sleeping under a table on the beach in Accra.
Favour heard that John helps people in desperate need and came to him asking for
help. Though our funds are very limited, we managed to help Favour rent a room
where she could stay and when the baby was due we made it possible for her to give
birth in a hospital. Little Donald was born in October of 2023.
From the very first Donald has had to fight to survive. He was born with breathing
problems and had to spend his first week in an incubator. The doctors advised
Favour not to nurse him so she has had to pay for formula and milk. Since she was
still very poor and unable to work and care for an infant at the same time she
struggled to keep him fed and keep a roof over their heads. He is weak and
struggles with bad health. Due to lack of funds his circumcision was done a bit
later than it should have been and it became infected. To this day it has not
healed well. This is becoming a source of great concern.
When Donald was about three weeks old a fire swept through the neighborhood where
he and Favour were living and Donald almost died. He was rescued by a neighbor. All
of their few possessions were destroyed.
Some months later Favour foolishly left him unattended and he fell, seriously
bruising his side. He was taken to a doctor and was given emergency first aid.
Fortunately he was not seriously harmed, though he could have been.
Just recently he was bathed in water that was so hot that it blistered the skin on
his scalp, resulting in nasty, oozing sores that left him screaming in pain. We
managed to get him the medical attention that he needed and he is healing. We do
not yet know if he will be scarred.
Right now Donald is weak and suffers with diarrhea. His mother struggles to get
food for the two of them on an almost daily basis.
Watching Favour and Donald struggle over the months since his birth is
heartbreaking and it is hard not to give in to despair and defeat. With so many
strikes against him, it seems almost impossible that he will survive. But we are
determined not to give up.
Right now Donald needs to be placed under a doctor's care to try to cure him of the
infection from the circumcision and also whatever may be wrong with his breathing,
if there is anything that medical treatment can do. He also needs food, the most
basic necessity of life, and Favour needs a permanent place to stay.
Every donation would be of great help. It is not acceptable that we simply let the little baby suffer and die.
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