Mending kids, transforming lives, and brightening futures

By Barbara Burke · Mon Aug 17 2026

Local nonprofit Mending Kids International provides hope and healing to underprivileged children needing surgeries

“In addition to mending 15 kids, this past week was standing room only when it came to training 13 ENT [ear, nose, and throat] residents,” Isabelle Fox, the executive director of Mending Kids International, a pediatric surgery nonprofit organization, posted on social media while in situ with the organization’s latest medical treatment mission in Mwanza, Tanzania. 

“From screen clinic and surgeries, to trachea and bronchoscopy workshops, emergency foreign body removals, and post-op rounds, we packed as much teaching as possible into a very long mission,” she said. 

Located on the shores of Lake Victoria in northwestern Tanzania, Mwanza is the country’s second largest city after Dar es Salaam. Famously known as the “Rock City” of East Africa, it has massive stunning granite boulders, vibrant markets, and breathtaking lake sunsets. It is full of life, culture, and beach and is a major trade and fishing hub. However, it is in need of qualified ENT surgeons to perform reparative surgeries for children. 

Mending Kids International helps identify children most in need of surgeries and other procedures and coordinates the transportation of a team of ENT surgeons, support staff, and volunteers to perform the surgeries in Mwanza, as well as to train medical professionals there so that they can perform similar surgeries in the future. 

Sharing before and after pictures of one small child who received ENT surgery, Fox explained that at times when the medical team members were explaining surgical alternatives to the child’s mother, they spoke some in Swahili.  

One does not need to be fluent in Swahili to fully understand that the small child’s life has clearly been improved by the surgery — a post-operation image of a gorgeous little boy with an engaging smile and his relieved and smiling mother tells that tale better than any writer ever could.

To determine which children needed ENT surgeries, Mending Kids works with Mainsprings School in Tanzania. Fox sang Mainsprings’ praises, noting that it is a wonderful school that educates and nurtures children mired in poverty and that it helps Mending Kids identify the children most in need of ENT surgical intervention. 

Mending Kids’ healing procedures give children a brighter future

The Malibu Times caught up with Seraphine Lyimo, chief operating officer of Mainsprings, The Janada L. Batchelor Foundation for Children. The healing surgeries Mending Kids provided to some Mainsprings’ students has, Lyimo emphasized, literally “given the children back their future.” 

“Sometimes, changing a child’s life begins with giving them the opportunity to heal,” Lyimo noted. “At Mainsprings, we work with children and families who face the many challenges associated with poverty. We believe every child deserves the opportunity to learn, grow, dream, and participate fully in life. But for some of our children, a serious medical condition can become an additional barrier affecting not only their physical health, but also their confidence, relationships, education, and dreams for the future.”

Lyimo explained that, “through Mending Kids International, some of these children have received specialized medical treatment that simply would not have been available to them in Tanzania.” Some patients receive care when Mending Kids’ medical teams visit Tanzania or other countries, while others are transported to specialty facilities worldwide. 

Lyimo recounted how successful surgeries have transformed two Mainsprings’ students’ lives: “Hollo is a young woman whose childhood was changed by a devastating animal attack. She was left with significant facial nerve paralysis and scarring, including alopecia. Beyond the physical injuries, the experience deeply affected her confidence. For a young girl growing up and trying to find her place in the world, the scars were a constant reminder of what had happened to her.” 

Through the partnership between Mainsprings and Mending Kids, Hollo was able to travel to the United States to receive specialized medical care in Ohio. She underwent major surgery and rehabilitation supported and fully funded through Mending Kids, Lyimo emphasized. “Today, the difference is remarkable. Hollo can braid her hair like other girls. She can participate more confidently in everyday life," he said. "Most importantly, she has begun to see herself not through the scars of her past, but through the possibilities of her future. What may seem like a medical intervention on paper was, for Hollo, an opportunity to reclaim something much bigger: her confidence, her dignity and her smile.”

Lyimo also shared Neema’s story: “Neema’s name means Grace. Neema went from walking on her knees to walking on her feet. Neema was born with bilateral clubfoot, a condition that made it impossible for her to walk normally. For much of her childhood, she moved around on her knees.”

Lyimo noted that Neema, “carried a simple but powerful dream: one day, she wanted to walk on her feet like everyone else. That dream became possible through Mending Kids.” Neema spent approximately a year receiving specialized treatment in Hawaii, where her care involved a series of orthopedic surgeries, rehabilitation, physiotherapy, and ongoing support.”

Today, Neema walks on her feet and can move around happily and participate in activities alongside other children. “The physical transformation is extraordinary, but what is perhaps even more powerful is what it has meant for her sense of freedom,” Lyimo explained. “Hollo and Neema are two of the children whose lives have been profoundly changed through this partnership, but they are not the only ones. Mending Kids has worked closely with Mainsprings to coordinate specialized medical care for children with complex and significant medical needs. Mending Kids does not simply provide medical treatment. It helps children move beyond conditions that have limited their lives.”

Lyimo said that Mending Kids brings a network of medical professionals, hospitals, expertise, resources and, perhaps most importantly, a willingness to say, “This child deserves a chance.” Together, Mainsprings and Mending Kids have ensured those chances become reality, he noted. 

“It is easy to measure a medical program by the number of surgeries performed, hospital visits completed or children treated," Lyimo said. "Over the past four years, our partnership with Mending Kids has taught us that meaningful change does not always begin with a large project or a grand intervention. Sometimes it begins with one child. One surgery. One specialist. One family being given hope. And then, one day, you see that child walking. You see another confidently braiding her hair. You see a family no longer living in fear of a recurring illness. And you realize that the impact reaches far beyond the hospital or operating room. It reaches into classrooms, families and communities. It changes how children see themselves and how they imagine their futures.”

Mending Kids provides life-saving surgical care to children globally. Since the nonprofit organization began in 2006, its volunteer medical teams have completed 210 missions across 78 countries and mended nearly 6,000 children. In 2025, Mending Kids went on 22 surgical missions, traveled to 19 countries, served more than 400 children with surgeries or treatments and hosted more than 150 medical volunteers. Its participants logged more than 200,000 miles on missions. In short, its impactful reach is vast as it seeks to address the vast amount of children needing surgical and treatment interventions.

Malibuites are very involved in Mending Kids’ and Mainsprings’ successes

Malibu residents volunteer and support both Mending Kids and Mainsprings. “Experts suggest that one of the keys to successful nonprofits is collaboration," Alexis Crump noted. “The collaboration that we have achieved between Mending Kids and Mainsprings, in part thanks to Isabelle Fox’s efforts, has been phenomenal. I serve as vice president of the Board of Mending Kids and chairman of the board of Mainsprings, and I have seen first-hand that nonprofits with synergies benefit through sharing experiences in areas in which both do not specialize, and even collaborating on fundraising efforts. 

“Mending Kids is a home-grown organization. When I mention Mending Kids, inevitably Malibu residents have a story about a neighbor who hosted a child having surgery in Los Angeles, traveling on a mission to South America, Asia, or Africa to witness first-hand, life-changing surgeries, or attending the annual gala that is always entertaining.”

Malibu youth also volunteer for Mending Kids missions. Sid Conrad, a rising senior at Malibu High School, learned about the opportunity to volunteer with Mending Kids when he was in the ninth grade. Conrad volunteered on a Mending Kids’mission to Guatemala City. Finding the experience very impactful, Conrad shared, “I observed ENT surgeries and was taught how to participate in them — I had to hold instruments to assist in a lot of surgeries.” Elaborating on his experience, he stated, “I was most impressed by observing the indigenous Guatemalan children and learning about their struggles and helping them — it was super impactful to learn about all of their lives.” 

Sid’s mother, Haylynn Conrad, stated, “Mending Kids helped change my son’s life in that it was incredibly beneficial for him — it was a terrific program and his sister and he may participate in the program this year.” 

Readers interested in more information can visit mendingkids.org and mainsprings.org.