Orphan Esther needs urgent operation in Uganda

Esther Babirye, a 13-year-old orphan, is suffering from a very large abscess on her upper right thigh and swelling in her groin. She is currently in a small hospital in Jinja, Eastern Uganda, about 85 km (53 miles) from her Abayudaya Jewish community in the village of Magada, Namutumba district. Doctors there have lanced and drained the abscess, but say she needs to go to a major hospital in Kampala, the capital, for an operation. The need is immediate, and her medical bills need to be paid immediately.

My name is Lorne Mallin, founder of Chanting & Chocolate, which currently supports four orphans from Esther's village through sacred Hebrew chanting events in Vancouver and Ottawa, now on Zoom. I went to live with the Abayudaya in another village in 2009. Since my return to Canada, we have helped several orphans go to school. (www.chantingandchocolate.com)

I send the donations we receive to a friend, Mugoya Shadrach Levi, the rabbi in Magada  and a student of the U.S.-based Jewish Renewal rabbinical ordination program. He is with Esther now at the hospital in Jinja.