Joseph is a five-month-old boy from Kenya. He is the youngest child in his family. He was diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain. This causes pressure to build in his head, and puts Joseph at risk of brain damage. Fortunately, his family visited our medical partner's hospital, Bethany Kids Kijabe Hospital. On December 1, he underwent a shunt insertion to drain the fluid from his brain. Joseph has three siblings, two of them in primary school. His parents are farmers. They cannot afford this treatment, so our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $685 in funding. “I want my son to have fewer health complications," says Joseph's father.

Chhoeun is a 59-year-old retired soldier who is married and has three sons and four daughters. He likes to plant vegetables around his home and listen to the news on the radio. In 1982, Chhoeun stepped on a landmine. He was treated at a hospital for soldiers, where doctors amputated his left foot around the ankle. They used a "grass-killing" herbicide to treat the wound. However, the wound never healed, and he has been unable to work since the accident. Eight months ago, Chhoeun's chronic wound grew severely painful. When Chhoeun learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), he traveled for seven hours to seek treatment. On December 14, surgeons at CSC performed a below-knee amputation to remove the unhealthy tissue and relieve Chhoeun of his pain. Now, CSC is requesting $446 to fund this procedure.

Erik is a 23-month-old boy from Guatemala. His parents have had trouble affording foods rich in calories, protein, and nutrients. For this reason, he is only the size of a healthy 13-month-old. Erik has been diagnosed with acute malnutrition. This means he has little energy to grow, and his immune system is weak and vulnerable to illness. He is also at risk of chronic disease and delayed development. Fortunately, he began malnutrition treatment on November 24, 2016. Erik lives with his family in a one-room adobe house with a tin roof. His favorite foods are chicken broth, bananas, and oranges. He plays toy cars with his aunt while his mother cooks for the family and weaves traditional Mayan sashes. Erik's father works as a day laborer on a bean plantation, but he cannot afford his son's $512 treatment. While malnutrition can have devastating effects, it is also very treatable. Growth monitoring, micronutrients, and food supplementation will help Erik recover. He will gain weight and grow taller to catch up with other children his age, and his immune system will grow stronger. Community health workers will teach his mother about creating a nutrient-rich diet from limited resources. Treatment will give Erik a chance to grow healthy and strong. "I am so grateful that you want to help my son have an improvement in his height and weight," says Erik's mother.