URGENT CALL FOR HELP: Sickle Cell Treatments for Lwanga

Lwanga Sillaje, age 16, lives with Sickle Cell Anemia. His body is constantly under attack, which causes excruciating pain, and means regular visits to the intensive care unit and long hospital stays. He misses a lot of school, too, which adds to his depression.

The hospital bills and treatments are impossibly expensive, and if we are not able to meet them, the hospital will not treat him. They feed him painkillers, which can be addictive and cause more damage. He has already had to have his spleen removed.

Lwanga is waiting to find sponsorship at $100 per month, which serves to maintain his food, housing, education, and regular treatments. But when he has an attack, it even that is not enough.

Lwanga had emergency life-saving surgery last week, to address internal bleeding and intestinal obstruction, the cost of which is $6,000 to pay his current ICU and other hospital bills, and they will not release him from the hospital unless this is met. Ugandan hospitals keep patients hostage, even children, until the bill is met - continuing to charge daily on top of what is owed, making it a nearly impossible situation to get ahead of.

With the current food shortages in Uganda, it is a challenge to even feed our kids. There is no surplus to meet medical emergencies and it sets us back significantly.

We hope to raise at least the $6,000 with this campaign. If we raise more, it will allow us to continue with the treatments he requires, and provide a bit of a buffer toward future treatments and medical bills. Please help in any amount. Thank you.

If you are interested in being part of a caregroup to hold Lwanga, please reach out.