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Give Duith and Sim the freedom and independence of mobility! These two young men from Lina’s Hope in Cambodia need surgery that is not available in Cambodia. Both Duith and Sim work hard at their therapy at Lina’s Hope and are determined to walk independently. Sim has gone from being unable to sit up or move independently at the age of 13 years old to now being able to army crawl, creep on all fours and walk with the help of parallel bars, but his hips turn inward and his knees and ankles contract into a flexed position, making it impossible for him to stand straight. Duith came to Lina’s hope at the age of 24 years old, unable to walk independently. Now, after a few years of therapy, Duith can walk as well as drive a three wheel motorcycle. However, he walks with his knees touching and flexed in a constantly contracted position and is unable to straighten his legs normally. Each young man needs 2 separate surgeries to allow them to see success with their hard work and therapy so that they can walk independently and more normally. This surgery will be done in June, 2017, by Dr. Joe, the same surgeon who did a beautiful job of surgery for Chanthy, a young lady from Lina's Hope who we brought for surgery in 2016. Both Duith and Sim will stay with us, the Him family, for 6 months to recover after each surgery as well as rehabilitate and begin walking before returning to Cambodia.
You can give Sim and Duith this amazing opportunity. We need to raise a total of $20,000, which is $10,000 for each young man. That amount includes $8,500 for two different surgeries for each young man and $1,500 for a two way plane ticket for each. Help us bring hope and a future to Sim and Duith!Here is Sim’s story:
When he first came to Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) Sim was a happy-go-lucky, 13-year-old boy with a sense of humor. Sim could not walk, and his leg muscles had become quite contracted after many years of sitting in a wheel chair without any therapy. Sim also struggled with using his hands and speaking, though most of the time he could be understood. Sim was usually a cheerful and fun person to be around.
However, one day after Sim had been coming to Lina’s Hope for two months, we noticed that he became quiet and depressed, crying easily, refusing to do his therapy, and no longer using his sense of humor to make people laugh. Upon talking with his parents, who are quite wealthy, we found out that his grandmother had taken Sim to a fortuneteller who had proceeded to say some curses over Sim. The fortuneteller had then privately told Sim’s grandmother that Sim’s disability was the result of evil deeds done in his past life, and that Sim was cursed to die by the age of 20 years old. Although Sim was never told the words of the fortuneteller, he became depressed, wanting to give up hope. When we understood the spiritual reasons for his depression, we gathered our staff together to pray over Sim, to bind any spirits put on Sim by the fortuneteller’s curse, and to proclaim God’s power and purpose in Sim’s life. We also explained to Sim that God created him and loves him and has great plans for his life, and that God can use his disability for good in his life. Sim then left his depression and returned to his cheerful, humorous self.
Today, Sim is a compassionate and fun 18 year old young man. Sim has come to know Jesus and has a beautiful relationship with God. He loves to pray for people and sing songs of worship and attend a local church that picks him up each Sunday. His strong faith in God is the perfect example of the sweet childlike faith that Jesus requires and that we all need. We really want to bless Sim with the surgery that he needs so that he can have a more independent future.
Here is Duith’s story:
Duith suffered brain injury during birth when he did not have enough oxygen while being born. His parents were farmers in the countryside, and they came to know Christ when Duith was still young. Believing in the true God, they prayed for their son and valued his life and believed that God had a special plan for his life. They did not give up on their disabled son like Cambodian Buddhists sometimes do who believe that disabled people are cursed and have a disability as a punishment for some evil deed in a past life. Though they were not very educated and knew nothing about therapy, they prayed and did all they could to help him progress and become as independent as possible.
God blessed Duith for his parents’ faith. At age 15 years old, Duith learned to stand and take a few steps, and when he came to Lina’s Hope (then TTLC) at age 26, he learned to walk. Duith is now one of our part time staff doing therapy for disabled kids at Lina’s Hope. We also continue to work on his tight leg muscles through hot water hydrotherapy and other therapy so that he can continue learning to walk more freely and easily. Recently, Lina’s Hope helped Duith to buy a three wheel motorcycle which he can use to get to work at Lina’s Hope each day as well as to transport some children from outside town to Lina’s Hope each day. It has been a true joy to see Duith blossom and become independent and confident as well as grow in his relationship with God.
Duith is praying to find a wife who loves God and also accepts and loves Duith the way he is even with his disability. He wants to walk normally so that he can support a family someday.
Lina's Hope is a school and therapy center for children with disabilities, namely brain injury such as cerebral palsy, in Kampot, Cambodia.
Some of the most marginalized and neglected people in Cambodia are those with disabilities. Because of poor health education and a lack of appropriate medical care, there is a high rate of disability, especially brain injury. Improper birthing practices, a lack of health education in the villages, the practice of heating up children with fevers instead of cooling them down, accidents, and defective immunizations all contribute to the high rate of brain injury in Cambodian children.
Secondly, people with disabilities are some of the most marginalized, neglected, vulnerable, and abused people in Cambodia due to cultural and religious beliefs. Cambodians generally believe that if a person is born with a disability or has an accident that causes any disability, it must be a result of his or her evil deeds in a past life. Therefore, the disability is the fault of the person who suffers it, and the person is viewed as deserving the disability as the consequence of his own bad actions. People who suffer disability are seen as cursed. Children with disabilities are seen as a disgrace and a dishonor to the family. Many parents hide away their disabled children, trying to keep them from the notice of the community. Poorer families may force their children to beg for money as a source of income. Many disabled people suffer physical, emotional, and other types of abuse at the hands of family members. They lack equal access to education, employment and facilities to enable them to move about outside the home. This constant lack of opportunity alienates them from fully participating in their communities.
Lina's Hope meets daily, Monday through Friday. Each morning the day begins at 8:00 am when the director, Krosal, picks up older students over the age of five in the area from their homes in the LH van. The students begin the day with a healthy breakfast. Staff gather to pray over each child as physical, sensory, and coordination therapy sessions begin. Our therapy equipment includes various equipment for teaching balance, parallel bars for learning to walk, various tools for teaching hand/eye coordination, walkers, a hyperbaric chamber, and a hydrotherapy pool. Between therapy sessions, students have a class in learning to read Khmer (the language of Cambodia), math, and a snack time. At midday the students have a healthy lunch and enjoy a craft time to strengthen hand/eye coordination, followed by a rest time and a Bible time with Bible stories and songs. Students under the age of five years old arrive with their parents at 2:00 pm. After more therapy sessions throughout the afternoon, students end the day with hydrotherapy in a small pool before being transported back home in the LH van. In addition, every two months LH students are taken on field trips like the beach or the zoo to give them new learning experiences in the world that God made. 
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Organizer and beneficiary
Jennifer Him
Beneficiary