Tha Zin is a 43-year-old woman from Thailand. She lives in a refugee camp in Tak Province with her husband and two sons. Tha Zin and her husband run a shop in the refugee camp. Their total monthly income is not enough to cover their basic expenses, and sometimes Tha Zin needs to borrow money with interest from her neighbor for her children’s school expenses. Tha Zin shared that in her free time she loves reading the Bible, praying, and knitting hats for her family. In 2022, Tha Zin started to experience pain when sitting. She also experienced bleeding in a sensitive area. In the refugee camp, they receive free basic health care from the International Rescue Committee (IRC). Tha Zin went to the hospital in the refugee camp, where they completed a physical examination, diagnosed her with severe hemorrhoids, and provided her with basic medication. While Tha Zin took the medication, she felt relieved, but after she finished her medication, the pain worsened, and she experienced increased swelling and inflammation. As time went on, the pain worsened. She felt it was harder to stand up, walk or sit. Currently, Tha Zin feels like she has less energy and has difficulty completing her everyday tasks. She also experiences difficulty sleeping due to her worries about her condition. Tha Zin sought treatment through our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund. She is now scheduled to undergo surgery on June 2nd at our partner's care center. Tha Zin needs your help to raise $1,500 to cover the cost of her procedure and care. Tha Zin said, “Because of my illness, I had to close my shop and leave my two children with my relatives. So, I worry about them. But I am thankful to those who will support my surgery because I cannot afford to pay for it by myself. When I recover, I will reopen my shop and pay back my debt that I borrowed for my children’s school expenses. If my family has the opportunity to do so, I want us to be resettled in a new country one day.”

Sein is a 40-year-old father of three from Thailand. Sein and his family are day laborers. During his free time, he likes to watch movies on his mobile phone. During the evening of May 8th, 2023, Sein and his wife were walking around their neighborhood after it had rained. Suddenly, Sein slipped on the slushy and muddy road, falling and hitting his right knee on the concrete beside the road. The fall caused him to fracture his right patella. Sein feels pain around his right knee and it is still slightly swollen and inflamed. Due to the pain, he cannot move his right leg and he feels uncomfortable with his leg in a cast. With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, Sein will undergo surgery to reset his fractured bones and ensure proper healing. The procedure is scheduled for May 12th and will cost $1,500. This procedure will help him walk and work again, and he will no longer be in pain. Sein said, "I want to thank my neighbors and you [BCMF] and everyone else for helping me. I hope I can make a full recovery. When I've recovered fully, I will work hard for my family and I will fulfill my children’s wishes of going to Bangkok and working there for the betterment of their lives."

Natasha Joy is a jovial six-year-old only girl living in Kenya. She is a grade 2 student and has several hobbies that she shared with us, including singing, praying, and cooking. Natasha was a healthy child at birth. However, when she turned three, her grandmother noticed that she had an unusual gait when she walked. She hoped that the condition would simply correct itself. Unfortunately, Natasha's situation has deteriorated, greatly affecting her mobility. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is seeking $1,224 to fund a surgery called an open reduction femur shortening osteotomy, which is scheduled for April 18th, at AIC Cure International Hospital. This treatment will greatly improve Natasha's mobility and allow her to play with other children and continue with her education. “I will be grateful to see my grandchild walking normally like other children with your support,” Natasha’s grandmother told us.

Beatrice is a one-month-old baby from Kenya. She is the youngest in a family of nine children. Due to the ongoing rain shortage, the parents have had to go out of their way to do casual jobs to provide for the family. The family has no insurance and cannot raise the required funds for her surgery. Beatrice was born at home, and immediately, her mother noticed she had swelling on her back. Referred by a friend to BethanyKids, her family traveled for two days and brought her in for an examination. Beatrice was born with spina bifida, a type of neural tube defect in which the spine does not properly close around the spinal cord. Without treatment, Beatrice is at risk of lower-limb paralysis, infection of the exposed nervous tissue, development of tethered cord syndrome, and possible developmental delays. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,151 to cover the cost of Beatrice's spina bifida closure surgery. The procedure is scheduled to take place on March 8th. This procedure will hopefully spare Beatrice from the risks associated with her condition, allowing her to grow and develop along a healthy trajectory. Beatrice’s mother says, “I was confused when I first saw the condition my child has, and I did not know what to do. I’m really looking forward to her surgery.”

Souhaimy is a 20-year-old student from Cambodia. He is from a rural area and has four brothers. His father is a construction worker, and his mom sells fried noodles from a street cart. In his free time, he and his friends play soccer, go on social media, and do homework under a tree near their house. When he was a child, Souhaimy had an ear infection. This infection caused a cholesteatoma, or abnormal skin growth, to develop in the middle ear behind the ear drum. For this reason, Souhaimy experiences hearing loss, tinnitus, and ear discharge. It is difficult for him to hear and he is regularly taking various medications, but to no avail. Souhaimy traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On February 9th, he will undergo a mastoidectomy procedure in his left ear. During this procedure, ENT surgeons will remove the cholesteatoma. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is requesting $926 to fund this procedure. This covers medications, supplies, and inpatient care. He said, "I hope my ear is better after surgery. I am embarrassed about the discharge and I can't remember my ear ever feeling normal."

Rose is a 44-year-old wife and mother of two children from Haiti. She lives in a small town in central Haiti with her husband, two children, and her sister and her sister's children. Unfortunately, she has been too unwell to work for over five years, but previously sold electronics in a local market. Rose has a cardiac condition called rheumatic mitral regurgitation. One of the four valves of her heart was severely damaged as a result of rheumatic fever a number of years ago. Her heart cannot adequately pump blood through her body, leaving her tired and short of breath. Fortunately, our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA), is helping Rose receive treatment. She will fly to the Dominican Republic for her surgery. On January 27th, she will undergo cardiac surgery, during which surgeons will remove her diseased mitral valve and implant an artificial replacement. HCA is contributing $12,000 to cover the cost of Rose's procedure, but she and her family also need help funding the costs of surgery prep. Rose and her family need help raising $1,500 to cover labs, medicine, check-ups and follow-up appointments. This money will also support passport obtainment and the social workers from HCA that will accompany Rose's family overseas. Rose shared, "I have felt very sick for a very long time, and I am very hopeful that this surgery will bring me relief and new energy!"

Paw is 52-year-old woman from Thailand. She lives with her husband, two daughters and son-in-law in a refugee camp. She and her husband are homemakers, while her eldest daughter and son-in-law are teachers. Her youngest daughter is a student. She has cataracts and she has blurred vision in both of her eyes. Because of her poor vision, she has difficulty walking around the refugee camp and she has had to stop weaving and selling traditional Karen clothes from her home-region of Burma. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund lens replacement surgery for Paw. On December 29th, doctors will perform a lens replacement, during which they will remove Paw's natural lenses and replace them with an intraocular lens implant in each eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Now, she needs help to fund this $1,500 procedure. "I hope that my treatment will be successful. I want to be able to see well. I want to continue weaving clothes in the future, and I want to live with my family for the rest of my life,” she said.

Thu Ya is a 24-year-old man who moved to Mae Sot in April to live with his older sister and search for better job opportunities. Thu Ya’s sister works in an electronics factory, and his brother-in-law works as an agricultural day labourer. Thu Ya does not have regular work yet, but he is paid per task for completing miscellaneous jobs for the factory where his sister works. Their monthly income is just enough to cover their daily needs and pay for basic health care. Every month they send money to Thu Ya and his sister’s parents, who look after his sister’s daughter. Thu Ya was diagnosed with a heart condition that involves a malformation of the mitral valve, the valve between the left atrium and left ventricle. This valve controls the flow of blood, but certain conditions may cause blood to flow backward or the valve to narrow. Currently, Thu Ya experiences shortness of breath when he walks longer distances or whenever he is active. He often experiences rapid breathing and feels tired. He cannot sleep well at night, and he has heart palpitations. He has a poor appetite, and he has not been able to help his sister much around the house since early September 2022. His sister is very worried about his condition. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund a mitral valve replacement for Thu Ya. The treatment is scheduled to take place on November 22nd and, once completed, will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably. His sister said, “I have a few sisters, but Thu Ya is my only brother. When I see him in this condition, I feel sad and worried about him. I hope that he will receive surgery and that he will get better soon."

Janeth is a two-year-old girl and the youngest in a family of two children. Her father is a small-scale farmer, while her mother has a few cattle whose milk she sells to buy food and other commodities. They also harvest and sell some of their crops to earn money. They are living in a harsh environment, but they try to manage on a day-to-day basis. Janeth was involved in an accident last year where she sustained severe burns. Her mother had made porridge for breakfast. She took the pot off the fire and placed it at a corner to cool down so that she could feed Janeth. As she went out to clean the plates Janeth took a cup and tried to take porridge by herself from the pot. She dipped her hand in the pot of hot porridge and while pulling her hand out, some of the porridge spilled on her left foot. Her mother ran inside when she heard Janeth crying, but she had already been badly burned. Her mother gave her first aid and rushed her to the nearest clinic where she got treatment that helped with the open wounds. The wounds have healed, but left her with scars that make her left-hand fingers hard to use, and the toe on her left food was disfigured. A relative who saw Janeth advised her mother to seek treatment at our medical partner's care center ALMC (The Plaster House). Janeth was diagnosed with burn scar contracture on her left hand and left foot. Her hand needs a release surgery with skin grafting because her fingers are webbed, and the fifth toe of her left foot needs to be amputated because it causes pain when she tries to wear shoes. Her mother cannot afford the $1,088 cost of treatment and is asking for help. Janeth’s mother says, "I had to convince my husband to let me come and seek treatment for our daughter. I am not at peace every time I think of her.”

Jeanslyn is a student from Haiti. He lives with his parents and brother in a small fishing village on the coast of northern Haiti. He enjoys going to school and helping his family around the house. Jeanslyn has a cardiac condition called Tetralogy of Fallot with tricuspid atresia. This is a fairly complex heart condition, including an absence of one of the heart's four valves, a muscular blockage of a second valve, and a hole between two chambers of the heart. To determine if Jeanslyn's condition is operable, he must undergo a diagnostic cardiac catheterization, a procedure that is not available in Haiti. During the procedure, a catheter probe will be inserted into his heart to perform the necessary measurements and tests. On December 17, he will travel to the Dominican Republic to receive the scan at our medical partner's care center, Clinica Corominas. Our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance, is asking for $1,500 to cover the costs of Jeanslyn's travel expenses, catheterization procedure, and lab work. His mother says, "We are very happy that our son can finally have this test, and are praying for a good result!"