Hearts of East Africa

Critical Care provides products to support hundreds of mission trip surgeries every year. Below is a note that we received following one of the trips. The note is a nice reminder of the good that is accomplished. Without your daily contribution to our success, CC would not be in a position to support these efforts. Thank you for making smiles like the ones in the attached photo possible.

–Scott Dougall

Dear Hearts of East Africa friends:

More than a month has passed since our journey to Tenwek Hospital in eastern Kenya, though the many children and families in need we encountered remain close to our thoughts. Thanks to the prayers and generous financial support from our friends, the team was again able to care for many children with life-limiting, serious heart disease.

Three of those children (Sharon, Purity, and Chepkirui) who underwent heart surgery are pictured above. Though they come from three distant towns and very different tribal backgrounds, as this “snap” illustrates, they formed a unique bond during their time with us. After they left the ICU, we would see them sitting outside on the hospital grounds talking, comparing scars…their three little heads together giggling and enjoying life. We think back to each of our patients, like these three young girls, and wonder what will become of their life now that they can attend school and enjoy a life free of limitations imposed by their heart disease, thanks to your generous support. Their grins speak for themselves.

Over the course of our two-week visit, we completed 19 open-heart operations addressing a range of life-limiting cardiac defects from ventricular septal defects, mitral valve stenosis, and Tetralogy of Fallot. Just next door to the operating theater, team members in a makeshift cardiac catheterization lab spent the first week addressing the effects of rheumatic heart disease through minimally invasive relief of mitral valve stenosis among eight more children.

We had an incredible team of volunteers, each who is an expert in their field and spent each day teaching as well as caring for patients. As we work toward our long-term goal of Tenwek being a self-sufficient regional leader in the repair of congenital heart defects, education is a key mission of each trip. This year, as in years past, we have seen how those we continue to work with are learning and taking on the job as their own. It is amazing to see!

This year, we are thankful for each of you stepping alongside us as we work towards these goals. Thanks to your support, we were able to directly offset the financial burdens encountered by many of these families as they sought to care for their loved ones. We will be returning to Kenya again in February of 2016. We thank you for continuing to partner with us on this mission and look forward to seeing what the year holds.

Best Wishes,

Hearts of East Africa