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Malvin is one of three children living in the poor neighbourhood of Kawangware in Nairobi. His mother died four years ago from severe meningitis, so now his father, who works as a security guard, has to look after the family on his own. With the equivalent of 50 euros a month, they often only eat once a day. A good education is out of the question.
Nevertheless, daily life might still have been bearable had Malvin not been born with a serious heart defect: the aorta, which carries blood from the heart to the rest of the body, was narrowed, meaning that the body receives too little blood with every heartbeat. The sound of blood flowing through the narrowing was so loud that you could hear it by holding your ear to his chest – without a doctor’s stethoscope! That’s how his father first noticed it. The consequences for little Malvin were delayed physical development, fatigue even with minimal exertion, and, in the long term, certain death from heart failure. Playing and running about with his peers was simply no longer possible.
The cost of the operation at the well-known Mater Hospital in Nairobi – where our first heart patient, little Samuel from Malawi, had already undergone successful surgery a few months earlier – amounted to 6,000 euros. Of this, donors in Kenya raised approximately 3,000 euros. The remaining 3,000 euros were covered by your donations.
On 7 November 2012, Malvin finally underwent successful heart surgery – thanks to your donations.
You have all given Malvin a new lease of life.
Thank you very much!