Kitsao Thuva Surgery Project, Kilifi, Kenya

Boniface and Andrew’s father, Kitsao, was gravely ill when we met him for the first time. He not only had a serious case of malaria, but more importantly, he had not been able to urinate for many days. The family did not have the resources to pay for medical care, so we offered to help. It turned out that Kitsao’s malaria was easy to cure, but the other problem was more difficult. He required prostate surgery costing more than $1000. The doctor temporarily put in a catheter to drain his urine, but that was a temporary measure. The doctor explained to us very clearly that without surgery, Kitsao would die.

Within a short time after we learned this, two families in Ottawa contributed the money necessary to pay for Kitsao’s surgery. It took many months for us to successfully transfer the funds, and then for Kitsao, with Andrew’s help, to make his way through the medical system and have the surgery done. But in September 2001 Kitsao finally did have his surgery, and has a tumour removed. It did not appear to be malignant, so his prognosis is good. Although there were minor complications after Kitsao’s having had a catheter in place for an entire year, we’re pleased to report that Kitsao has recovered from his surgery and is doing fine.

Kitsao Thuva