Crowdfunding Medical Care For The Needy

Article written by guest writer Kecia Lynn

What’s the Latest Development?

Seven days remain in the Indiegogo campaign to raise $50,000 towards the development of Samahope, a Web site that its founder Leila Janah hopes will allow people to donate money towards costly medical treatment for the very poor. Since its launch last month, donors have helped fund a number of corrective surgeries, some of which are unfamiliar to doctors working in the developed world.

What’s the Big Idea?

Janah’s flagship organization, Samasource, has for a number of years provided paid digital work to poor women and youth. The idea for Samahope came after she met young women in Sierra Leone requiring life-changing but unaffordable surgeries. In addition to getting them the help they need, the site lets the women tell their stories. “[T]he scale of the problems can seem so great compared to the resources you have to address them,” she says. “It’s about looking down and doing what’s in front of you…Then do the next thing. My job is to make sure we’re all going in the right direction…the sum of those steps adds up to something really great.”

Goran Bogicevic / Shutterstock.com