BUDUBURAM REFUGEE CAMP - West Africa

The Next Right Thing is an amazing tax-exempt US 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.They are not a religious organization and they help kids who need them regardless of race or religion. I am honored to have done some work for the next right thing, escorting children in need of medical attention that they could not receive at home, back to the United States to receive sponsored medical care. I will do it again in a heart beat, they are a great organization run by the kind of human beings I dream of being one day: Cori Stern, Kristi Manning (whom I wen't to the refugee camps with) and Dawn Heusser.

If anyone is able to volunteer for an organisation like this and do this kind of work, I could not reccomend them more highly.

It was a humbling and life affirming experience to witness the waves of hope that spread through the refugee camp.. just knowing that two strangers from oversees were willing to come and help their kids.

Kristi and I brought back three children this particular trip. The First was two year old Franklin from the war torn West African country of Cote d’Ivoire. Franklin had swallowed battery acid and destroyed his esophagus. He was unable to eat, except by feeding through the tubes in his stomach and through the top of his head (you can see in the photos). While we waited for free care to come through, we paid for his emergency hospitalization in Cote d’Ivoire, due to problems with his feeding tubes.

A friend Aimee Osbourne sponsored the trip, making it possible, and Children’s Medical Missions West found him free care. We escorted him from Africa to receive treatment in Ohio - after a very challenging 17 hour flight for Franklin, Kristi and I, he's now able to eat on his own, had his feeding tube removed, and is home with his family and twin sister.

The second child was Taiseer - A three year old girl from Ghana. Taiseer had rectal prolapse that was mended in Ohio.. and the third was 6 month old baby Daniel - who was suffering from a cristallized kidney. All three children are now home and safe, their medical issues having been treated.