Help Us Meet the Challenge
Rachel with Pamela in 2018
A-BE-C’s work under the vision and guidance of Executive Director Pamela Artigas is expanding its reach in Uganda.
Imagine spending the first 15 years of your life in a small room on a dirt floor, hidden from the world. If you’ve been following our work in Uganda, you may remember Rachel’s story. Once frightened and withdrawn, Rachel now has a newfound sense of worth. After receiving a relatively successful surgery, Rachel returned home and, for the first time in her life, she finally has hope. She is still wet and has a high risk of infection, but she has been able to take tailoring courses to become a seamstress. Rachel will undergo a second surgery this October when our team of surgeons travel to Uganda.
It is because of your generous donations A-BE-C has helped facilitate surgeries for children with BE like Rachel in Uganda and flown Ugandan surgeons to India for medical training. But there is still so much that needs to be done for Ugandan children who live every day in agony. “My goal is to work with a group of physicians on the ground in Uganda to build a medical facility where children can both undergo surgeries and receive follow up treatments,” states Pamela Artigas, Executive Director of A-BE-C.
Janet Gibson and Pamela Artigas in Uganda in 2018
Five Year Commitment
This October, a team of America’s most experienced bladder exstrophy surgeons will be in Uganda for seven days to begin a five year initiative designed to treat these underserved children and adults and extend access to exstrophy surgery through the training of Ugandan surgeons.
A team of surgeons learning from Dr. Ranjiv Mathews at a workshop in Uganda
Our 2019 goal is to provide five (or more) Ugandan children with a life-changing surgery and on-going medical care. To make this happen, we need to raise $35,000 (or $7,500 per child) by September 30. The surgeons are donating their time and paying all their own expenses, so this will cover the hospital’s hard costs for the surgeries and 30-day hospital stay, plus the five years of follow-up visits which are vital to ensuring the operation’s success.
We’re Almost There
We have raised almost $20,000 so far, and as the date gets closer we want to have funds so all five children who are already undergoing preoperative preparations can have their life changing surgeries too. Because we cannot imagine turning any one of these precious children away, we are once again reaching out to you for help. We hope you will join us in “sponsoring” one of the five children with a gift of $7,500. If you would like to sponsor a child for surgery but funds are an issue, please consider teaming with your friends, family, church or others in your personal network to sponsor a child together. Of course, we will be deeply grateful for any gift you can make.
Your generous donations have multiplied in impact, as you can see from Rachel’s story. It started with a surgery that changed her life and allowed her to receive an education, gain confidence, and build a future for her and her family. Her life has been forever changed and she is setting out to help change the lives of others.
Your gift today will allow us to invest in our Uganda Initiative, which means more lives healed, more lives restored, more lives saved. More children reaching their greatest life purpose and potential.
100% of all donations will be directed to A-BE-C’s Ugandan Exstrophy Initiative. We will provide follow up and reports about the children whose lives you are changing. If you have questions or would like to make your gift in another way, please contact us directly.