Laiyorie is a three year old baby boy and the last born child in a family of seven children. Unfortunately, Laiyorie's father passed away last year leaving their mother with seven children to take care of all by herself. She was able to start a small business which sells kerosene, sugar, and a few other commodities to make a living and help her provide for her children. Laiyore was born with deformed fingers of the right hand due to amniotic banding and webbed toes on his right leg. His parents could not seek treatment for him due to financial challenges. But when his mother learned about African Mission Healthcare from the doctors who visited her church she decided to seek treatment for him with our medical partner. But his mother cannot afford her son’s treatment cost. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, can help. Laiyorie has been scheduled for surgery to remove his deformed index finger which will help him use the remaining fingers with ease in carrying out his daily activities. Now, Laiyorie's mother asks for your help and support in funding this $1,088 surgery. Laiyorie’s mother shared, “With all the responsibility I have to provide and care for my children I will not be able to afford my son’s treatment cost. Please kindly help my son have this surgery.”

Gift is a young child from Kenya--a playful and lively boy. His mother told us that he likes reading and playing with other kids. Gift is the last born in his family that hails from Mathare neighborhood in Nairobi County. His mother does casual jobs of washing clothes and cleaning. His father passed on two years ago after an accident. The family lives in a one-roomed ironsheet house in Mathare. Gift has clubfoot of both feet. Clubfoot is a condition in which the foot is twisted out of shape. This causes difficulty walking and even wearing shoes. Fortunately, Gift traveled to visit our medical partner's care center, AIC Cure International Hospital. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on September 14th. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,286 to fund Gift's clubfoot repair. After treatment, he will be able to walk easily and wear shoes. “I am appealing to people of goodwill to help my son undergo surgery so that he can be able to walk like other children. God bless you," his mother told us.

Zin Oo is a 36-year-old man who lives with his mother, younger sister, and his seven-year-old son in Mawlamyine, Burma. He is an assistant truck driver and he earns 4,000 kyat (approx. 4 USD) per day. Since the outbreak of CVOID-19, there is less work and he is only able to earn 64,000 kyat (approx. 64 USD) in a month. Zin Oo's son goes to primary school and his wife passed away last year. His mother goes house to house to see if anyone would hire her to wash their clothes. His younger sister lost her job at the factory after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Yangon. Since April, she looks after the household chores and she also works as a day laborer when she can find work. Zin Oo’s combined household income of 124,000 kyat (approx. 150 USD) in a month is just enough for their daily expenses and they cannot afford to pay the costs of basic healthcare. On August 3rd, Zin Oo was cutting firewood with an axe. While cutting the logs, his aim was off and he hit his fingers on his right hand against the log. His fingers became swollen and red after the accident, especially his small and index fingers. Without enough money to go to the hospital, Zin Oo bought traditional medicine and applied it to his fingers. He felt like his middle and ring fingers healed but his small and index fingers became more swollen and painful. Eventually when he noticed pus on his fingers, he told his friend about his problem and his friend suggested he go to Mawlamyine Christian Leprosy Hospital (MCLH), where treatment often cost less than other hospitals. At MLCH, the doctor completed a detailed assessment of his right hand and diagnosed him with cellulitis, a serious bacterial skin infection. The doctor told him that because of poor blood supply, he would need to amputate his small finger and probably his index finger as well. When Zin Oo told the doctor that he does not have any money to pay for the surgery, the doctor referred him to Watsi's Medical Partner Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF) for assistance accessing treatment. Currently, the fingers on Zin Oo’s right hand are red, swollen, and warm to the touch. His fingers hurt a lot, especially his small and index finger. He cannot sleep at night without taking pain medication. He is not able to eat food with his right hand and he feels uncomfortable eating with his left hand since he is right-handed. Aside from this, Zin Oo feels stressed about his condition. He cannot work and his mother has to help look after him since he was admitted at the hospital. His mother then has no income while he receives treatment. They are worried that they will not have enough money for food and for Zin Oo’s treatment. In the future, Zin Oo wants to work as a truck driver to earn money for his family. Once he has fully recovered, he will accept any work he can find as he looks for a job as a truck driver. Zin Oo’s younger sister shared with us, “Now, I have to take care of my nephew while my mother accompanies my brother [Zin Oo] at the hospital. I cannot work and our family is worried about money. We owe our neighbor 50,000 kyat [approx. 50 USD] and we have to pay it back with 20% interest.”

Phannith is fourteen years old. He is a student in the ninth grade. He has one younger sister in fifth grade. His parents are factory workers and work long hours, so he takes care of his sister everyday. His favorite subject at school is math and he wants to be a computer programmer when he grows up. Since he was born, Phannith has had torticollis. The muscles on the left side of his neck are involuntarily contracted, causing his head to tilt to that side, and he has difficulty moving his head or looking around. It can also cause recurrent neck pain and make it difficult to sleep. Fortunately, surgeons at Children's Surgical Centre (CSC) can perform a tenotomy to release the tension in those muscles and allow Phannith to gain normal movement of his head once he has recovered and completed physiotherapy. Now, Phannith needs your help to fund this $541 surgery. Phannith shared, "I hope that soon my neck will feel better and look better. I hope I can play sports with all my friends and not have to worry about neck pain."

Kyaw is a 23-year-old young man from Burma. He lives with his mother, younger brother, and sister in Mawlamyine City. He and his mother own a small plot of land where they plant different fruit trees, such as mango, rambutan, durian, lime and others. They sell the fruit at the market and in total make around 200,000 kyat (approx. 200 USD) per month. His younger sister is in her final year as a university student, while his younger brother is in grade nine. Kyaw used to work as a day laborer sometimes when he was well, but now his symptoms prevent him from working. In his free time, he loves to read newspapers and listen to music at home. Kyaw was born with a ventricular septal defect, a cardiac condition in which a hole exists between the two lower chambers of the heart. Blood leaks through this hole without first passing through his lungs to obtain oxygen, leaving him feeling sick and short of breath. Kyaw is scheduled to undergo heart surgery on June 14th to correct his condition and improve her quality of life. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to cover the total cost of Kyaw's procedure and care. Kyaw's mother said, “My son is a good man and he always works hard for the family. When he gets sick, he hides it because he is worried that I would feel stressed about him. He does not go out much and enjoy himself. He always helps me in the garden.”

Mom is a 34-year-old importer from Cambodia. She imports products from Thailand to sell in Battambang. Mom's favorite hobby is to take photos of the city to upload and share on Facebook. She has one son and one daughter. Three months ago, the retina of Mom's left eye detached, causing her blurry vision, a reduced field of vision, and perceived flashes of light. She has difficulty seeing things clearly, recognizing faces, and going outside on her own. When Mom learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, she traveled for six-and-a-half hours seeking treatment. On May 12th, eye surgeons will perform a retinal detachment repair procedure in her left eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Now, she needs help to fund this $648 procedure. Mom said, "With my eye problem, I cannot do anything I like to do, not even cooking food for my children. I want to keep my business going, and support my family."

Win is a 49-year-old woman from Burma. She lives with her husband and four sons. Two of her sons are distant learners at university while her husband and two other sons work as masons. However, her husband had to stop working to look after the housework when she was no longer able to do so. Win was diagnosed with a heart condition that involves a malformation of her 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, Win feels tired, has no appetite, cannot sleep well nor walk longer distances. She also has a headache, chest pains, and tingling and numbness in her extremities. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund a mitral valve replacement for Win. The treatment is scheduled to take place on March 11th and, once completed, will hopefully allow her to live more comfortably. Win said, “When I recover from my illness, I will go back to doing the housework so that my husband can also go back to work.’’

Poe is a five-year old boy who lives with his family in Shwe Koke Ko village of Karen State in Burma. In his free time, Poe likes to play with his friends and toys. He also likes to eat sweets. Poe does not go to school because of his condition. Poe's mother and father are divorced, and both are remarried. His father lives and works in Bangkok, Thailand and he contributes to Poe’s financial wellbeing by giving the household 5000 baht (approx. $167 USD) per month. His mother does not provide the family with any extra income. Poe stays with his grandmother and great grandmother from his father's side. His grandmother works as a cleaner. The rest of the family does not currently have work. When Poe was eight months old, he got a severe fever and his family took him to the Wang Pha clinic near Mae Sot, Thailand, which is the same place where he was born. He was admitted at the clinic for three days, but his condition did not improve. Doctors at the clinic told his family to take him to Mae Sot Hospital (MSH) for further investigation. The family immediately took him to MSH and he was admitted for one week. At MSH, he received a blood test and was diagnosed with Thalassemia, a blood disorder. He received a blood transfusion and after the transfusion, Poe felt better, but only temporarily. His family went back for three follow-up appointments to MSH, where he had blood transfusions each time. When he was one year and five months old, the family could not afford going to MSH any longer, so they took Poe to Myawaddy Hospital. He received another blood transfusion and an IV line. He was admitted for three days at the hospital. Although he felt better after getting discharged in Myawaddy, since his condition is chronic, he needs regular blood transfusions to stay healthy. It became increasingly difficult for the family to pay for Poe’s care, however, they decided to come to Mae Tao Clinic (MTC) for further help in 2016. Since then, he has received many blood transfusions at MTC, sometimes monthly and sometimes bi-monthly. With these treatments, he is able to survive. However, his condition also affects his spleen, the organ that filters blood. To prevent further problems, medics at MTC told his family that doctors need to remove Poe's spleen. Since it cannot be done at MTC, he needs to go back to MSH to undergo the operation. Currently, Poe has frequent bloody noses, coughs up blood, and has blood in his stool. He feels better after having a transfusion, but it wears off in the weeks following the procedure. When its nearing time for another transfusion, he feels weak and tired. When asked what he wants to do when he grows up, Poe was adamant that he wanted to be a medic. “I want to help people,” he said. “When he sees people that are sick, he always tells me he feels sorry for them,” added his great grandmother.

Victor is a child from Kenya. Victor is the second born in a family of two. His mother is a stay-at-home mom while his father is a motorbike taxi rider. Victor was diagnosed with cryptorchidism, a condition in which one or both of the testicles remains undescended. If left untreated, Victor has an increased risk of developing hernias, testicular cancer, and fertility problems in the future. Victor will be receiving assistance from our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). Fortunately, he is scheduled to undergo corrective surgery on November 28. AMHF is requesting $542 to cover the total cost of his procedure and care.

Aimidiwe is a three month old baby girl from Tanzania and the second-born child in a family of two children. She was born at a local hospital with a cleft palate and was referred to Watsi Medical Partner ALMC hospital to seek treatment. She was admitted to the hospital since she couldn’t feed well and was having regular seizures. Her family was advised to return for regular check-ups and observation but the parents couldn’t afford the transport money and the consultation fee since they had used up all their saving for the period she had been admitted, thus they hadn't returned. A few weeks later, she started vomiting and her head was increasing in size so her family had to find money and take Aimidiwe back to ALMC hospital. Her father is a shop attendant with a meager income and they had to borrow money to take Aimidiwe back to the hospital. At the hospital Aimidiwe needed to have CT scan done but the parents couldn’t afford it thus when they were referred to our funding and support program. Aimidiwe has now been diagnosed with cleft palate and hydrocephalus, and she will need to have the hydrocephalus condition corrected first to save her from the pain and danger of brain damage. Thereafter, doctors will correct her cleft palate condition. Her parents are asking for help and support since they can’t afford the treatment cost. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,238 to cover the cost of surgery for Aimidiwe that will treat her hydrocephalus. The procedure is scheduled to take place on January 13th and will drain the excess fluid from Aimidiwe's brain. This will reduce intracranial pressure and greatly improve her quality of life. With proper treatment, Aimidiwe will hopefully develop into a strong, healthy young girl. Ahimidiwe’s mother says, “Our daughter needs two very important surgeries none of which we can afford, kindly help us.”

Mary Wambui, a widow, is a 79-year-old retired primary school teacher who depends on her pension to earn a living. She is suffering from hearing loss and requires bilateral hearing aids to improve her hearing. Her hearing challenges began two years ago when her hearing ability dwindled and she could no longer attend church or gatherings as she could barely hear. Mary lives on her own since her husband passed on six years ago. She has no children, thus has no one to depend on. Mary can barely afford the hearing aids with just her pension as she needs funding for the fitting to be completed as well. Mary gets an average of Kes. 5,000 per month but that can barely cater for her basic needs leave alone pay for the hearing aids she so badly needs. She appeals for financial assistance.

Guerdina is a student from Haiti. She lives in a small village in the mountains of central Haiti with her parents and 4 siblings. She likes going to school and would like to become a teacher. Guerdina has a cardiac condition called rheumatic mitral regurgitation. One of the four valves of her heart was severely damaged by a rheumatic fever she suffered in childhood, and can no longer adequately pump blood through her body. Guerdina will fly to the Dominican Republic to receive treatment. On October 29, she will undergo cardiac surgery, during which surgeons will attempt to repair her valve; if they are unable to do so, they will implant an artificial replacement.. Another organization, The Mitral Foundation, is contributing $7500 to pay for surgery. Guerdina's family also needs help to fund the costs of surgery prep. The $1,500 bill covers labs, medicines, and checkup and followup appointments. It also supports passport obtainment and the social workers from our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance, who will accompany Guerdina's family overseas. "I am hopeful that after my surgery I will feel healthy and normal," said Guerdina.