Click on Phillipe’s picture to head on over to the Watsi site and see him & all the other patients currently in need.

PHILLIPPE’S STORY

 

Say hi to Phillippe, a one-year-old boy from Haiti! According to our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA), “Phillippe is his mother’s first child, and is very popular with his cousins, aunts, and uncles. He learned to take his first steps and is now trying to walk everywhere he can, holding on to furniture as he goes. He is a very sweet and curious child.”

 

Unfortunately, “Phillippe was born with a condition called patent ductus arteriosus, in which a hole that is normally present in the heart of a developing fetus fails to close after birth. As a result, blood can flow through this hole without passing through the lungs to get oxygen, stunting his development and making him weak and sickly,” explains HCA.

 

For $1,500, Phillippe will receive surgery to completely close the hole in his heart, and he will no longer experience any symptoms from his condition. “It’s a dream come true for us that Phillippe can get better!” says his mother. Let’s help Phillippe get healthy!

As always, if you enter the Watsi site through https://watsi.org/welcome/within-biking-distance/within-biking-distance your donation will be tracked in our campaign. If not, that’s cool too. We just want you folks to help folks.

Also, folks, I’m in freak-out mode! Just a few weeks before we hit the road! I’m packing up all my crap to put into storage and doing all sorts of last minute planing, preparing, & prepping. Also, also, you might hear us on the Mac radio station ( KLYC 1260 AM) sometime in the future. We’re trying to get in touch with local media to spread awareness for our cause.

Anyways, have a thuper Thursday.
-Lizzy

Mt. Jefferson: totally irrelevant to this post, but beautiful.

April showers bring May flowers, or so I’ve heard, but I would say April showers bring thoughts about soon-coming, soggy May bicycle tours. The roads have been a bit wet the past few days but we’ve seen worse. Enough complaining.

The calendar marks 24 days until we actually leave. At this point I have resigned myself to the idea that it will be a torrential downpour the first week of tour, and then snowing the second–that way I won’t be disappointed if my premonitions aren’t true.

Lizzy has been busy constructing a Beef House out of a mailbox, I think its coming together marvelously. It is amazing how complex a “simple” problem of on-the-road-rat-containment-systems can be. Beefy had a surgery last week (he had to wear a cone. sadface.) but he has made a full recovery and was even back at church last night. He has just been so excited about leaving he can’t contain himself! There really isn’t that much left to plan, all we need to do is wait.

I guess what I’m saying is . . . We’re really, finally, truly, seriously ready to go! (at least once the ran environment is ready. . .)

–Haley

Amina is a kindergartener from Tanzania who needs $550 so she can move her arm freely.

Click Amina’s picture to head on over the the Watsi site

AMINA’S STORY

“It is our hope that Amina can get the help that she needs in order to be able to use her arm again,” says Amina’s mother.

Meet Amina, a five-year-old girl from Tanzania who has burns on her left armpit, chest, and back. The burns have created muscle contractures, which shorten the muscles and prevent muscle movement. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), reports, “Amina is unable to lift her left arm up.”

Amina is a friendly and active kindergartener. “Although she is soft spoken, she can clearly explain herself and enjoys learning ABC’s, counting numbers, and singing,” continues AMHF. One night, while playing with her brother, Amina accidentally got too close to the open fire in their family’s kitchen and her sleeve caught on fire. “Amina suffered severe burns, especially under her armpit and part of the chest and her back. She was treated for some months and many wounds healed, but Amina remained with a contracture on her armpit,” relays AMHF.

“Amina’s parents are small scale farmers. They spent a lot of money on medical bills treating their daughter’s wounds and now they cannot afford the cost of operation which she badly needs,” says AMHF.

For $550, we can fund a single contracture release, which will heal her burns and bring mobility back to her left arm. AMHF concludes, “Amina will be able to raise her arm up and freely move it in all directions, allowing her to perform various activities efficiently.” Let’s help her out!

As always, if you enter the Watsi site through https://watsi.org/welcome/within-biking-distance/within-biking-distance your donation will be tracked in our campaign. If not, that’s cool too. We just want you folks to help folks.

Also, holy smokes guys, we hit the road in less than a month. I’ve been busy doing my Master Gardener volunteer hours and building a rat-environment for Beef. I’ll probably write more about that in another post.

Anyways, have a great weekend everybody!
-Lizzy

new & improved!

So, it’s been kind of a nutty few weeks trying to get prepared for this insane bike ride. There still seems like there are a million little details to tie up, but (un)thankfully, one thing I’m really good at  is procrastinating. So as my to-do list grew, I decided to look the other way and revamp the Within Biking Distance website instead (as you may have noticed). Anyways, it looks pretty sleek now and will provide a stark contrast from our dirty smelly faces when we roll into a town and start talking to folks about Watsi.

So, I encourage you to poke around the new site, and tell me what ya think. Also, if something is acting goofy, let us know, and we’ll fix it to the best of our ability. Which isn’t much, but, eh, we try.

-Lizzy