Needed Friend raised over $550 in September 2022 to assist baby Fred with his medical bills. Fred was only 6 months old, and was born with a tongue tumour which caused extreme swelling of the tongue. A swollen tongue meant Fred found it extremely hard to feed, smile, laugh, utter any sound or even breathe. Fred's parents were advised to wait at least 5 months after his birth to ensure a smooth medical operation and removal of the tumour. Fred's parents struggled to raise the fee required for the operation once it was due, and information was shared on social media to raise funds for the operation. Needed Friend mobilised its platforms and raised part of the fee required for the operation, and the operation was carried out on time and successfully. Fred now eats, drinks, smiles, laughs and breathes easily. The smile on Fred's face is a perfect representation of what we aim to achieve at Needed Friend!

Between January and May 2022, Needed Friend team visited over 15 orpanages in different regions in Cameroon, providing children with food items and facilitating access to potable water. According to studies carried out in 2014 on nutrition and growth of children within an orphanage vs non-orphanage children, children within an orphanage had a significantly higher rate of stunting and underweight than other non-orphanage children. Children within an orphanage also had a significantly higher rate of morbidity than the non-orphanage children. These nutritive issues arise as a consequence of children within an orphanage being three times more likely to consume inadequate calories than non-orphanage children. Our staff over the first quarter and a half of the year worked tirelessly to ensure easily avoidable nutritive issues were tackled especially amongst the less-privileged

In the first quarter of 2023, Needed Friend team will be organising a branded merchandise sales event to raise funds to assist more less-privileged people accross the African continent. Details regarding the event will follow closer to the date.