Susan is a young girl from Tanzania. She is the second born child in a family of four children. She is a happy girl and always has a smile on her face. Susan has not had the chance to join school yet due to her feet being wrongly positioned making walking difficult. Her parents are concerned that she will struggle to walk to and from school every day. The school is a long distance from their home and her parents can’t afford to pay for motor bike rides to school. Both her parents depend on small scale farming for their daily life living. Fortunately, Susan traveled to visit our medical partner's care center, Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on November 19th. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $890 to fund Susan's clubfoot repair. After treatment, She will be able to walk easily. Susan’s father says, “Please help treat our daughter’s legs we can’t afford the treatment cost.”

Serey Vuth is a 20-year old taxi driver from Cambodia. He has three brothers and one sister, and enjoys listening to music and helping with the housework in his free time. When Serey Vuth was five years old, his face came in contact with an open flame. The burn has left contractures that have tightened the skin around his neck and lips. This makes it difficult for him to move his head, and often causes itchiness and difficulty sleeping. When Serey Vuth learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, he traveled for three and a half hours seeking treatment. Surgeons at CSC will perform a burn contracture release surgery to move his head and neck easily and no longer have any discomfort. Now, he needs help to fund this $448 procedure. "I hope that my surgery will go well so I will be able to use my head and neck fully and there will be less scarring," shared Serey Vuth.

Mbondo is a nursery school pupil and likes reading and drawing. He also likes playing with other children and sometimes he says that his friends imitate him as he walks. Mbondo hails from Tulimani village in Makueni County. He is an orphan and lives with his grandparents. His mother passed 3 years ago as a result of an accident along Makutano junction Machakos road while his father passed 2 years later after a long illness. Mbondo was born with a condition known as knock knees, the grandmother did not notice the condition at an early stage until recently when he noticed the knees knocking each other and he was limping as he walks. Mbondo's grandparents who are taking care of him are farmers and mostly depend on their children for daily bread cannot afford to pay even a quarter of the estimated bill and thus requested for support.

Gift was born in Tanzania on July 17, 2016. He is the fourth born in the family. When Gift was born, his mother was very sad to see an open lesion on his lower back - diagnosed as a Meningomyelocele (MMC). He now also shows some early signs of hydrocephalus, or an increase of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain. Gift needs multiple operations – MMC closure as well as ventriculoperitoneal shunt insertion to drain the fluid in his brain. The surgeries will prevent Gift from easily contracting infections and also reduce the increased intracranial pressure. Gift’s parents are very worried about their son’s condition and are unable to cover the cost of operations. Gift’s mother used to sell some vegetables, fried fish and cassava, but after giving birth to Gift she had to quit her business. Gift’s father is a small scale farmer. He mostly grows vegetables. The little that they earn is what they use to pay for their children’s school fees and all other basic needs. With three children going to school, the cost of surgery which Gift badly needs is too high for them to afford. “I wish my son will get better and later on have the ability to walk,” said Gift’s mother.

Meet Kyomuhangi, a 48-year-old single mother from Uganda. Without her own land, Kyomuhangi supports both herself and her son by renting pieces of land from neighbors to harvest food. Kyomuhangi has had multiple uterine fibroids for several years now, and the non-cancerous growths in her uterine muscle have worsened to the point where she is no longer able to do her work like digging or laundry. She has been trying to ameliorate the symptoms temporarily with pain medication. After hearing about Watsi's program, she came to Virika Hospital, seeking medical and monetary support from Watsi's medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). Unfortunately, over the span of five years, Kyomuhangi has been experiencing abdominal swelling with heavy prolonged bleeding and abdominal pain. If she remains untreated, she will continue bleeding and this may render her anemic, causing more complications. Kyomuhangi will also continue experience discomfort and pain from the abdominal swelling. A total abdominal hysterectomy will lead to a full recovery for Kyomuhangi. $250 in funding will cover surgical costs, medications, as well as bed rest to help her recover. Afterwards, she will be free from the pain, bleeding and risk of anemia. With our help, Kyomuhangi will soon be able to work and support herself and her son again.