Thida is a 43-year-old tailor who resides in Tbong Kmoum province, approximately four hours away from the capital city of Phnom Penh, along with her husband and two daughters. Her husband works as a tailor, while her daughters pursue their education. To support their diet, she cultivates vegetables on their modest plot of land, providing nourishing food for her family. Twenty-eight years ago, Thida had an ear infection. This infection caused the ear drum in her right ear to perforate. For this reason, Thida still experiences frequent fevers, infections, ear discharge and hearing loss. Despite having undergone surgery in the past, she has had a persistent return of symptoms. These health issues affect her ability to work regularly, or communicate effectively with others, causing embarrassment when she struggles to comprehend her family or colleagues. Thida traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On January 2nd, she will undergo a myringoplasty procedure in her right ear. During this procedure, surgeons will close the perforation in her ear drum. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is requesting $487 to fund this procedure. This covers medications, supplies, and inpatient care. Thida said: "I hope after surgery, I will stop having the ear infections and can have easy communication with others."

Nan is a 50-year-old rice farmer from Cambodia. Nan's and his wife have eight children. Four still live at home - one son works in the rice paddies with his parents, and the three youngest children are still in school. His four older children are married but visit the family frequently. Last February, when Nan was on his way home on his motorbike during a rainstorm, he suddenly lost control of the bike on the muddy road. He fractured his left femur, but could not afford to visit the clinic, so he was treated by a Khmer traditional healer. His fractured femur has still not healed. When a bone fracture is untreated, the bone doesn't heal at all, which means that it will remain broken. As a result, Nan continues to have swelling, tenderness, and pain that has worsened over the past ten months. It is difficult for him to walk and he is in constant pain. Nan is embarrassed because he cannot work outside with his wife and son or help to feed his family. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner Children's Surgical Centre (CSC) can help. On December 11th, Nan will undergo a fracture repair procedure, which will cost $483. This procedure will fixate his unhealed fracture with an orthopedic nail to help to heal the bone and allow him to walk again. Nan is able to contribute towards the cost of surgery and needs help raising the remaining to fund his procedure. He said, "I hope to be able to walk again after my operation, so I can work to feed my family and send my younger children to school."

Marise is a 13-year-old student, living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with her parents and four siblings. Marise has a cardiac condition called congenital aortic valve stenosis. As a result of this condition, one of the four valves in Marise's heart is much narrower than it should be, making her heart strain to push blood through the valve. This leaves Marise weak, and unable to participate in physical activities. The care she needs is not available in Haiti so Marise will fly to the Dominican Republic, where on February 9th, she will undergo surgery at Hospital CEDIMAT, during which her valve will be repaired. While another organization is helping to support the cost of Marise's surgery, our medical partner, International Cardiac Alliance, is seeking $1,500 to cover her care costs including pre and post operative medical care, and travel expenses for Marise's family, and the social worker who will accompany them for her surgery. Marise shared: "I am looking forward to being able to stop worrying about my heart after surgery."