http://techcrunch.com/2012/08/30/watsi/
UPDATE: You rocked our launch
You rocked our launch so hard we’re just now taking a breath to update the blog.
How hard?
In the first 24 hours:
- 20,000 people visited Watsi.org
- Donors funded all 11 medical treatments we posted
- We were the #1 post on Hacker News
- We were flooded with emails from developers who want to work on Watsi for free, including a team in Florida that designed a Watsi iOS app by way of introduction
- Matt Flannery, co-founder and CEO of Kiva.org, showed us love on Twitter
- And, most importantly, your generosity SAVED people’s lives
So THANK YOU for being the most crazy loyal, wildly cool, and unbelievably supportive group out there. We love you.
WATSI.ORG IS LIVE TODAY!
Don’t miss out on your chance to be a part of history.
Go to www.watsi.org and fund a treatment now!
Foto
All the profiles on watsi.org are fully funded!
This is unbelievable! Somehow, the 50 participants we invited to join our pilot magically grew to 66, and we far exceeded our goal of funding a single medical treatment.
Thank you to the 66 founding donors that participated in the pilot. We’ve made a zillion improvements to the platform based on your feedback, and it’s time to take Watsi public.
Let’s come together and show the world what we’ve built!
Foto: patient bageshwori
We funded our first profile!
Bageshwori, a 12-year-old girl from Nepal, will receive life-changing heart surgery because 24 generous donors came together and funded her medical treatment on watsi.org.
We are floored by the generosity of the participants in our private pilot project and we are proud to be a part of the awesome Watsi community!
Testing 1, 2, 3
Website is built. Patient profiles are uploaded. Private beta testing starts ASAP.
If you want an invite, reach out to us at connect@watsi.org and we will get you in on the action.
“For me, an area of moral clarity is: you’re in front of someone who’s suffering and you have the tools at your disposal to alleviate that suffering or even eradicate it, and you act.”
- Paul Farmer
Laxman
When my grandmother died, I didn’t cry. I was sad, but she had lived a long life and I believed she was ready to pass. I never knew Laxman, but when he died, I cried.
Laxman was a 17-year-old boy from Nepal. His dad died from Kidney failure, and despite being a single parent, his mom took good care of him and his two brothers. Laxman was in the 8th grade and he couldn’t decide between being a policeman or a teacher when he grew up.
I know all of this about Laxman because his story was one of the first to arrive in our inbox as the word about Watsi started to spread. Laxman had rheumatic heart disease, a potentially fatal condition of the heart that results from an untreated strep throat infection. Rheumatic heart disease is treatable, and in Laxman’s case, treatment would have cost $1,000.
Today, I found out that Laxman died. I have no doubt in my mind that Watsi would have been able to raise the $1,000 he needed for treatment, but we just weren’t ready.
Laxman taught me that hope and sadness aren’t mutually exclusive. A 17-year-old boy should never die because his family can’t afford a $1,000 medical treatment. It’s wrong. But Laxman reminded me of something I forgot somewhere amidst the grant applications and financial spreadsheets. What Watsi is attempting to do is real, it’s serious, and it matters. I truly believe Watsi can change the game, and that gives me hope.
When I got home from work today, I sat down in my desk chair, cracked a beer, and let out a big sigh. I think Watsi is about to do some big things, but it sure isn’t going to be easy.
-Chase
Video
Sandeep Kishore on what’s wrong with medical school.
