I am asking for your donation today to help my friends Christopher Mwambingu and Lucia pay for life-saving medical treatment for their son Lotan. 

Their only surviving child, Lotan, 5 1/2, has been diagnosed with Fanconi Anemia, the only curative treatment for which is a bone marrow transplant.

At Lotan's early stage in his diagnosis, Christopher is seeking funding for a Haploidentical bone marrow transplant for his son, and working with the Indraprastha Apollo Hospital in New Delhi, India. This is the same hospital where his late daughter, Sasha, was treated two years ago. Sadly, her bone marrow transplant was unsuccessful in the late stages of her disease and she did not survive. 

All funds raised here will 100% support Christopher and his family for Lotan's bone marrow transplant surgery, roundtrip travel expenses to India, and followup medical attention.

Fanconi anemia (FA) is a rare genetic disease caused by mutations in any of the known 23 genes (including genes such as BRCA1 and BRCA2) that play a role in the FA DNA repair pathway. Dysfunctional DNA repair in all cells of the body means that people living with FA have a very high risk of developing bone marrow failure and cancer in addition to many other systemic issues. FA affects both males and females equally and is found in all ethnic groups.

I have known and worked with Christopher since he was selected by the US Embassy in Nairobi in 2012 as an “emerging leader” participant in the US Department of State “International Visitor Leadership Program”, America's oldest professional exchange program celebrating its 85th anniversary next year. My organization, World Partnerships, Inc., is the Tampa Bay (Florida) regional partner implementing the IVLP. In the intervening years, Christopher’s work as a grassroots community organizer led him into an advisory role for the first-elected County Assembly (state legislature) in Taita Taveta County in the post-devolution era (transition to a Federalism system) in Kenya. Christopher organized three government and economic development missions to Florida  through World Partnerships to assist in the organization of his County government in the areas of inter-governmental relations, state budgeting, water resource management, alternative energy development, tourism development, and workforce development. Due to the health crisis of his daughter and a recent election, Chris and Lucia have been unable to find steady work in the past two years and have no health insurance. Their savings have been depleted taking care of their children.

 Thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your donation. Gary Springer