Congenital heart diseases are often hard to diagnose and always very expensive to treat. Zahara’s parents saw their little girl’s life getting dimmer with every passing month, but even an x-ray was far beyond their means.

“My daughter has a future, Life is good.”

—Mother of the child patient

Her father said, “What is the worth of anything when life is gone? The family sold most of their belongings, including animals, furniture, and a little plot of land. That proved to be enough for physicians’ evaluations, echocardiograms, medicines, a few days in hospital, and a final diagnosis of congenital heart disease. Surgery was prescribed, at a prohibitive cost.

The family went back home in despair. But hope was reborn by way of gossip. A neighbor knew another who got help from some strange and obscure group of foreign do-gooders. This neighbor did not know their name, but she would ask, and God willing something good would happen. And so it did. We read her file and understood that an early intervention had a significant chance of success. Through the combined efforts of a volunteer surgeon and pledge from an available hospital, Zahara went with her father to face the unknown. She returned with a tired, but optimistic smile.