Little Red Scarf

With medical and technological advancements, infant and child mortality rates have decreased over the years, but congenital heart disease is still a leading contributor to these mortality rates. Children with congenital heart disease undergo more severe and rapid medical treatment putting their parents through even harder times. These issues are worth exploring because congenital heart disease is an ongoing illness that has more and more relevant research being done on it. In the United States of America, an increasing number of children are being born and diagnosed with congenital heart disease (CHD) due to medical advancements. This illness not only impacts the infant’s life long term, but it also affects the parent’s well-being (Tak, & McCubbin, 2002). It has

Free the Children started after Craig read a story of one boy that he couldn’t ignore. In the morning, after flipping through pages, he found a story of one boy his age named Iqbal in search of comics. He was born in South Asia and was sold to slavery at the age of four. In his life, he spent six years working in the field of carpet-weaving loom. As a child himself he was shocked to hear this story; so he decided to defend children’s rights. He gathered a small group of his gr. 7 classmates from Thorn hill, Ontario, school and “Free The Children” was born. Today, everyday free the children grows and every child receive its full potential. There are 2.3 million youths are involved in this organization and it had work in 45 countries since it started. Today,

children and families cope and adjust to the challenges of hospital visits. Although a child life

The Foundation had just donated the funds to expand housing for the Seed’s Orphanage, which was home to seventy- five children. Our mission when going was to spend quality time with the children by organizing ten days of fun activities. Each of the children in the orphanage had endured various versions of abandonment, abuse, rape, and neglect. Bonding with the children and experiencing life in an impoverished area was truly life giving.

In the contemporary society, it is difficult for families who are not well off to pay for their hospital fees. This can lead to higher death rates due to the lack of financial aid. Starting in 2014, Operation Smile Vietnam has been receiving donations to help offer infants born with cleft lip and palate deformities free surgeries along with treatment and counseling. By providing financial resources, these children can grow up to their fullest potential without worrying about how they are seen by others.

“Making the impossible possible” is the motto of Camp Able. Camp Able offers a summer camp experience for people with special needs, whether they be physical or mental. This week-long session affects the lives of many and I can vouch for that. This experience has given me so many fond memories and has filled me with a more humble spirit. All of the staff that takes part in the one-on-one care and assisted daily living are volunteers who graciously dedicate their time and money to go through online certification, staff training, and the week itself. My experience in volunteering for this event caused me to have some very mixed feelings, but I learned so much along the way.

Congenital heart disease (CHD) is one of the most common birth defects found in children, with an incidence of approximately nine in every 1000 live births worldwide (van der Linde et al., 2011). Children with complex CHD are living longer due to dramatic advances in medical procedures and surgical techniques (Berger et al., 2017), as well as the increase in number of pediatric heart transplant recipients over the past two decades (U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2017), and the decrease in the death rates from CHD, with this population now living into adulthood (Pillutla, Shetty, & Foster, 2008). Costs related to the care of children with CHD are greater than $5.6 billion dollars a year, with an average hospitalization costing

In the summer of 2014 I, along with 30 friends from St. George Church, took part in a week long mission trip to the beautiful country of Haiti. While there, we did a lot of service work, including planting trees and painting a school. But way beyond all that, we got the incredible opportunity to care for and play with hundreds of unbelievably lovable and, despite their unfortunate circumstances, immeasurably happy children, most of whom were abandoned, orphaned, or severely ill with HIV/AIDS. Their smiles and radiating happiness are among the brightest I've ever seen and they inspired our entire group to change the way we perceive the world. Therefore, getting the chance to see those beautiful kids again would make me and them, too, unimaginably happy.

Did you know that heart abnormalities are the most common birth defect? I didn't, until a few weeks ago. A Facebook friend posted a link to the Cora's Story blog and I casually clicked over to see what it was about. Cora died suddenly in her mama's arms at just 5 days old from an undetected congenital heart defect (CHD). I can't imagine suffering such a devastating loss, and I thank my lucky stars for my kids' healthy hearts. But Cora's mother Kristine has turned her pain into a wonderful mission in her daughter's name: to raise awareness about CHD and how easily it can be detected. With Kristine and Cora's help, hopefully more CHDs will be caught and treated early, saving babies' and children's lives.

More that 14,000 of these will be sleeping rough on the street.” World Visions short video looks at the perspectives of underprivileged children that live in horrific conditions that affect their wellbeing, for instance “Cheru has no choice and like millions, she must walk 6 kilometres a day for dirty water.” The language, music and children shown within the clip have an impact on the audience’s emotional reaction. Later on, the idea that we can make a change is identified and the video becomes more upbeat for instance, “When you walk or run World Vision’s Global 6k for

Congenital abnormalities have become the main cause of heart disease among children especially in developing countries including Palestine state. Congenital heart disease is the most frequent form of congenital anomaly in newborn infants, and accounts for more than a quarter of all serious congenital anomalies worldwide. Generally, an estimated incidence of eight cases of congenital heart disease per 1000 live births is internationally accepted as the best approximation. The causes of most congenital heart defects are not known. (Zaqout, Aslem, Oweida, Al Kahlout, Al Barqouni, and De Wolf, 2013)

Access to healthcare services is a very crucial issue for the patient’s population. The difficulty of this process is even higher when any type of surgical intervention is required. The rules and regulations are creating some obstacle for patients in order to receive immediate care. In the population of my interest access to healthcare and health services is going to another level of hardship because the type of surgery that this population will go through is not a regular open heart surgery but it is minimally invasive cardiac surgery (MICS). Minimally invasive approach in open heart surgery allows access to the heart through small incisions and without stopping the heart, or separating the breastbone (sternum) and ribcage, or requiring a

Had I not been diagnosed with Juvenile Diabetes I would have never been given the opportunity to attend the camp that saved my life. Camp Sweeney is a three-week long summer camp for Type 1 Diabetics in which I attended for the first time the year following my diagnosis. At this camp, we are forced to go far beyond our comfort zone by doing things like stand on tables during meals to dance and sing, and line up heel-to-toe every time you went somewhere as a cabin. While these may seem like minor things, nineteen consecutive days of this is what brought my awkward eleven-year old self out of my shell. I drove in through those front gates afraid that people would notice my Insulin Pump, and drove out with nothing but pride for it.

This year we were fortunate enough to send three of our Love A Child orphan children to the States to receive highly specialized medical care. Getting any of our children who need specialized medical care to the States is always a challenge. We have been so blessed to find the right hospitals, doctors, and sponsors that are able to offer each of these children a chance at a better life and to improve their physical comfort. When each child originally came to our Love A Child Orphanage, they had suffered not only physical pain but also emotional trauma because of their condition.

Tayt Andersen is an 8 year old boy from Rigby, Idaho, but he isn’t like all the other little kids in Rigby. Tayt was born without the left side of his heart. And, at just seven years old, he has had nine open-heart surgeries, twenty-four shunt revision surgeries, and three other life-saving surgeries. He has been Life Flighted ten times, flat-lined six times, and has spent more than three-fourths of his life in hospital beds at Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah. (Embree)