I would like to share the incredible story of the Pocongs, who I have had the opportunity to meet while living in the Philippines. Manelyn and her husband Melfen are both chefs, working 12 hour days, 6 days a week to support themselves, their families and their 6 year old son, Kurt. I personally have had the pleasure to work with Manelyn who is consistently teaching all of us how to be happy and strong no matter what kind of day you feel like you’re having or what is going on. She comes in to work smiling, dancing and playing regardless.

Recently her 6 year old boy, Kurt, was admitted into the hospital for severe pneumonia, a condition that, without proper treatment, can be fatal and almost was for Kurt. He began his treatment in the Intensive Care Unit for 5 days, after which he remained in the hospital under constant supervision for another 2 weeks. He was then released but remained in the city, visiting the hospital twice a week for an additional 2 weeks. Thankfully Kurt has healed significantly, requiring some very dramatic dietary changes, but has been able to come home. He is expected to travel back to the city, about a 3 hours drive from where we are living, once a month for a regular check up and vaccinations indefinitely until the doctor feels as though he has fully healed.

During this time, Manelyn and Melfen stayed in the city with Kurt, unsure of whether or not he would survive his condition. The Pocongs do not have the luxury of health insurance and were out of work for months while they were in the city. Now back home, Manelyn has began working again. Melfen has moved indefinitely to the city to work at the hospital to help with their debts. Their current balance with the hospital is 150,333 Philippine Pesos, the equivalent to about $3,500 US dollars. Each of them earn a salary of about the equivalent to $160 US dollars per month and are currently surviving on only one salary, as Melfen is delivering his entire pay check directly to the hospital. In the mean time, the hospital is charging interest on their unpaid bill and they must pay out of pocket for his monthly visits to the city, about 4,000 - 8,000 Philippine Peso each time, or the equivalent to about $93 - $187 US dollars. If anything should happen which would send Kurt back into intensive care, the hospital has refused to treat him until the remaining balance is paid first.

Watching the amount of love, bravery and dedication that this family has shown to fight for their little boy has been such an inspiration. If anyone has the means and is willing to donate even just a few dollars towards Kurt’s medical expenses, it would mean the world to this family. Each donation will be used as payment towards their balance and will give them the ability to visit the hospital again if required as well as giving them the freedom to use their incomes towards feeding their families, including the additional money required to accommodate Kurt’s new dietary requirements. Every donation is important and will have a huge impact one the lives of the entire Pocong family. Without the funds to pay this debt to the hospital, Kurt may miss out on important future treatments and may not be able to keep up with his new dietary regime that is keeping him healthy enough to be home.

All received donations will go directly to the Pocong family and you will be able to stay up to date on the progress that we have made by checking in to this site regularly. To contribute you can click on the "Contribute" button at the top of the page. From there you will have the ability to enter the amount you would like to donate and whether or not you would like to cover the cost of the associated fees (you will see the fee amount listed as well). You can then click "Pay with Paypal" and you can choose whether to transfer with Paypal or to donate by credit card. Thank you all so much for your thoughts, prayers and donations for Kurt and his family. It is so important and will make a huge difference to all of us!