PRAY FOR ZHUO MA – and for us!

Dai Ji Zhuo Ma is not in one of the orphanages co-managed by Christian Action, but we have been asked to help this Tibetan girl from Yushu County.  Zhuo Ma's father deserted his family when she was a year old.  When she was five, her mother gave her to a herdsman for adoption. Three years later, he passed her on to another old herdsman. That poverty-stricken man and his daughter both had mental disabilities. At the age of eight, Zhuo Ma became their carer.

June 17 Update : I have received some queries regarding Zhuo Ma, so here is an update for her. She was referred to us by a Buddhist organisation and we're glad to help. Zhuo Ma is now in the Red Cross Hospital, and her condition has improved.  While the medical costs are high, she desperately needs this life-saving care.

A year ago, Zhuo Ma, now 18 years old, suffered abdominal pain, but was only given medication for the pain.  But in May, at the time of the earthquake in Yushu, the pain was unbearable and she was taken to the military field hospital where doctors said she had an abdominal mass and a perforated appendix.  During surgery the doctors discovered she also had abdominal tuberculosis and an intestinal fistula. She is severely malnourished.

Because of the limited medical services in Yushu, a volunteer with "Care Charity" helped to transfer Zhuo Ma to Qinghai University Hospital but had no money for her care. So he asked Christian Action to try and do something for her. Because her bowel fistula is losing nutrition, Zhuo Ma has been sustained by drugs, but doctors are saying her health needs to be built up via intravenous nutrition before further surgery can take place to close the fistula.  However, sustaining this course of treatment for at least 6-8 weeks will incur costs of over RMB300 (US$44) per day.

Please pray with us for a way forward.

As always, I’m so grateful for your prayers and your support.

Siew Mei

Donations for Zhou Ma