On the 3rd day of Stand Tall Christmas

We are excited to introduce Oliva…

Oliva’s journey with Stand Tall is very different from most of the other children.  Oliva has not had surgery yet.  She is eligible for surgery and even made it as far as the airport to fly to the surgeon.   Due to an immigration issue, she wasn’t allowed on the plane.  Since that day she has just been waiting, waiting for two long years.

You may ask, then why are we sharing Oliva’s story in our successes? That’s what makes her story special.  While working with Oliva, we learned about her absolutely horrific living in situation.  She was living with an abusive family member, denied food or a bed, and was forced to skip school and perform long hours of manual labor, scrubbing floors and washing clothes on her hands and knees.  This is hard enough for the average person, but nearly impossible for someone with severe back problems. 

After that fateful day, when Oliva couldn’t fly to the hospital, we decided for this one girl, we would place her straight into our “Phase 2: Give A Life” program.  We worked with the authorities to remove her from the home and arrange a safe place for her to live when she’s not in school.  She also goes to boarding school in Kenya, as far from her families abuse as possible.  What has happened since is fantastic.  Free from hours of manual labors, Oliva’s scoliosis has stopped progressing and she can live a mostly normal life. She even reports having almost no back pain.  She is entering her senior year of high school and wants to go to college to study business, maybe even be an accountant.  Without Stand Tall, Oliva would not have the life she has today, so even without having surgery her life is a success.

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