World Care Program
Some of the children who come to us for help have much more complicated disfigurements than can be treated during our two-week medical missions. Through the generosity of sponsors, we can arrange to have a child and a guardian brought to Australia, Europe, or the United States where the child receives surgery. A caring host family provides a home for them during the child’s treatment and recovery, typically lasting a month. Not only are these children’s faces transformed, but their lives are as well.
Sharon Chebe
World Care Patient
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| Sharon Chebet was born with a facial cleft | Sharon and her mother, Emily, in May 2005, three weeks after her final surgery |
In November 2001, Joe and Sue Kainz of Barrington, Illinois, volunteered to manage the medical records on an Operation Smile mission in Eldoret, Kenya. A few days into the mission, Joe and Sue saw a group of people gathered around a newborn baby. The infant, Sharon, had been born with a facial cleft. Just hours after Sharon was born, her parents traveled six hours by bus to reach the Operation Smile mission in Eldoret. Sharon became a World Care patient candidate. Through sponsorships, the World Care Program brings children and young adults to the United States and Operation Smile resource countries for surgeries that are too complicated to be performed during incountry missions.
A year before they traveled on the mission to Kenya, Joe and Sue were among the winners of a seven-state lottery called The Big Game. Joe said, “It allowed us to fulfill dreams and establish the Kainz Family Foundation.” Through their private foundation, they are dedicated to helping children and the environment. After meeting Sharon and her family, Joe and Sue were determined to make sure Sharon received the care she needed.
(left to right) Sue and Joe Kainz, Sharon Chebet and her mother,
In November 2003, the Kainzes sponsored Sharon’s trip to Norfolk, Va., and her surgery at Children’s Hospital of The King’s Daughters. Joe and Sue explained they are just part of a large team of Operation Smile doctors and nurses who have helped Sharon. Joe says, “If you can change one life, you have to do it. We’re committed to this child.”
Family and friends in Kenya were amazed at Sharon’s progress, but knew she would need an additional surgery. In May 2005, three-year-old Sharon and her mother Emily returned to Norfolk and Sharon received surgery at CHKD to reconstruct her nose and repair her cleft palate. Joe and Sue flew to Norfolk to be by her side one more time. “She’s a miracle,” Joe said. The surgery went well, and Sharon returned home to Kenya.
Emily is happy and thanks Joe and Sue for all that they have done to give Sharon the chance at a normal life. She says Sharon now has many friends in their village. When Sharon and Emily traveled to the U.S., they stayed with Joy and Bob Sandlin from Virginia Beach. Joy said, “Last time they were here, Sharon was clingy to her mother. Now she is more outgoing and independent. It’s a dramatic change.”
