Fund the family to pay medical bills and funeral costs for Charlotte

Update from 02/06: Charlotte is my 73 year old sister in law. Sadly she passed away on the first of June 2023 from complications of low blood count exacerbated by sudden blood loss from a ruptured blood vessel, while we were fundraising for her ongoing chemotherapy treatments and related hospital, travelling and nutrition costs.

Even with medical insurance, Charlottes recent medical emergency has required co-payments and all outstanding medical bills not fully covered by medical insurance will still require payment. Gawie, Corrie and Natasha now have funeral costs to cover. The money that has been donated for Charlottes benefit will be released to Gawie to pay towards the remaining medical and funeral expenses. Thankyou for your time and kindness to those who have generously donated.

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Charlotte is my 73 year old sister in law. She lives with my 76 year old brother Gawie and their 41 year old disabled son who lives with partial blindness & scoliosis. Unfortunately circumstances have been such that they were unable to flee the torrid conditions in Zimbabwe along with the rest of the family and now they’re stuck, unable to immigrate due to finances and age and unable to retire for the same reason.

Charlotte is fighting a particularly aggressive form of throat cancer. She has 4 chemo treatments remaining and the family are finding it financially impossible to live and eat and pay for treatment. Charlotte is in need of specialist nutrition, because of the cancer being in her throat she can’t eat or drink a lot.

Even with medical insurance, each session requires payment, travel, accommodation & living expenses, before, during and after the treatment, blood tests and Chemo drugs, the co-payment must be made before the chemotherapy is administered. Despite being an impoverished 3rd world country with no internationally recognised currency of it's own, Zimbabwe's cost of living and medical costs far exceed that of New Zealand. Public Hospitals are underfunded, mostly under staffed without working oncology departments, they don't stock drugs, patients have to provide their own drugs, purchased from surrounding nations. Gawie at 76 earns the equivalent of NZ$636.04 per month for 3 adults. There is no state benefit or pension and no government support at all.