Much needed surgery.

One of the things that PARSA has taken on with the boys at the Allahoddin Orphanage, is to make medical referrals for the kids that need medical care beyond the orphanage's means. The orphanage, as it turns out, has very little in the way of medical resources, and can really only provide basic first aid. We talked to the staff doctor and he told us that four of the boys had been diagnosed with herniation and needed surgery. The kids varied in age from five to twelve, and all of them had had their hernias for over a couple of weeks (painful!) PARSA staff was able to take the four troopers to the Indira Gandhi Children's Hospital, here in Kabul, where they were examined by Afghanistan's leading pediatric surgeon, Dr. Mustafa. Dr. Mustafa agreed to perform the surgery free of charge as long as PARSA could cover the costs of whatever medical supplies and medication the boys would need after the surgery. We booked the boys into the hospital's ward and they are scheduled for surgery tomorrow. Here's a photo of the rather pensive looking bunch, right before they were booked into the hospital for the night.