Matabwa is a 30-year-old father of four from a village in Malawi's Central Region. He supports his family through farming a variety of crops. He also assists his wife with cooking, cleaning, and collecting water. In his free time, Matabwa likes playing soccer with his friends and neighbors. Two years ago, Matabwa started experiencing pain from an inguinal hernia-- a condition in which intestinal tissue protrudes through a weakness in the lower abdominal wall. The pain has started to interfere with his ability to work and conduct household tasks, and he has been unable to receive medical treatment until now. Matabwa's condition is entirely treatable with a $613 surgery to return the herniated tissue to his abdominal cavity. After the surgery and a three-day hospital stay, Matabwa is expected to make a full recovery. He and his family are very excited for him to return to his normal life. "I feel very happy to have the operation," says Matabwa.

Khoun is an 81-year-old grandmother living in Cambodia. She is married with three sons, three daughters, and 20 grandchildren. She enjoys visiting the pagoda to join in ceremonies and prayers. Khoun traveled 2 hours with her daughter to reach CSC for treatment. About one year ago, Khoun started having blurred vision and tearing from both eyes, and became unable to travel independently with her vision impairment. She visited our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), and was found with a cataract in each eye. Her doctors at CSC recommended she have surgery to resolve her vision impairment and restore clarity. They would perform an extracapsular cataract extraction and an intraocular lens implant in each eye, which will replace her internal ocular lenses. In total, the procedure, supplies, drugs, and three days of inpatient care will cost $225. Following her surgery, Khoun will have restored vision and her discomfort will be resolved. She will also have her independence again, and will be able to visit the pagoda on her own.

At 20 years old, Penelope is working through school and aspires to be a teacher some day. She recently just finished the final level of primary school, and will finish her exams and continue working at her education after delivering her first baby. Penelope is pregnant, and the baby is in breech position, meaning it is upside down in the womb. Delivering a baby in this position can be dangerous, and to ensure the safety of both Penelope and the child, doctors have recommended a C-section. A C-section will cost $303, and includes all post-operative care for Penelope and her child. This treatment will allow her to welcome her baby into the world without worrying about the possible dangers of a breach delivery. "Penelope is quite shy, but wants all the donors to know that she appreciates their support very much," shares The Kellermann Foundation. Let's support her in the happy, healthy delivery of her child.

Meet Sunday, a seven-year-old boy from Uganda. “At birth, Sunday’s mother noticed his right scrotum was bigger than the left,” explains our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). “The swelling kept increasing in size and it is now becoming painful.” Sunday was diagnosed as having a hydrocele. A hydrocele forms when a sac in the scrotum fills with fluid. This is due to abdominal fluid seeping through an incomplete closure where the testes descended during infancy. “The swelling is increasing in size and it is now becoming painful,” adds AMHF. Sunday’s father has passed away, and his mother works as an hourly laborer to support her son. Her income is not enough to be able to afford treatment he needs. “This condition makes my son feel very uncomfortable. Most of the time he isolates himself from fellow children,” she says. For this reason, he is also not attending school. $215 will allow Sunday to undergo hydrocele repair surgery. The surgeon will drain the fluid from the sac and suture the incomplete closure between the abdomen and scrotum. The cost of treatment also covers the necessary antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication for after the surgery. AMHF shares: "After surgery, Sunday will no longer be at risk of pain and discomfort. He will be able to join school without any fear of stigmatization.”

Justice is an eight-year-old boy from Uganda who needs $375 to treat malnutrition. Due to his condition, his face and extremities are swollen and his hair is fading. He often has diarrhea and feels lethargic. Concerned that Justice doesn't have energy like other children his age, his parents Rachel and Aggrey traveled 45 kilometers to get him treatment. Justice is the oldest of three children. When he has enough strength, he enjoys playing soccer, making toy cars, and helping his mother fetch water for their farms. With treatment, which will cost $375, Justice's doctors anticipate he will make a full recovery from malnutrition and develop normally. "Thank you to everyone for helping my son," Justice's mother says. "I'm looking forward to learning more about his nutrition."

"Two years ago, Ean developed a traumatic cataract when a battery exploded and hit his right eye," our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), shares. This painful and intense injury has caused 68-year-old Ean an array of uncomfortable symptoms like irritation, tearing, and burning sensations. Ean is from Cambodia, and has three sons, three daughters, and 10 grandchildren. In his free time, he enjoys listening to the social news on the radio and doing small tasks around his home. Ean's vision has been seriously impaired since his incident. "It is hard to see everything clearly and I cannot do any work very well," he says. After hearing about his brother's successful surgery at CSC, Ean and his wife came in seeking treatment. For $150, doctors at CSC can perform a phaco procedure and intraocular lens implant which will remove the cataract in Ean’s eye. CSC expects that with this surgery, Ean’s vision will be corrected. “I hope after treatment, my eye can see everything clearly again so I can do my work on the farm,” says Ean. His wife adds, “I hope I won't have to worry about his eye losing more vision."

This is John, a 30-year-old hard working single father of two young boys. He lives in Kenya but recently traveled to South Sudan for a job with better pay. "About a month ago, he was leaving work in the evening when he was attacked. Attackers beat him and stole everything he had," explains our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). John sustained a fracture to his mandible during the attack. "A passing vehicle stopped after the driver noticed the attack. The driver of the car helped John and took him to a local dispensary," AMHF continues. He was transferred to a Sudanese hospital and then told to return to Kenya for specialized treatment. John is unable to chew his food and has difficulty speaking. If he does not receive treatment soon, he could experience malunion of his mandible and possible infection. John tells AMHF, "I would like to own my own business one day so that I can finally take care of my children myself." He currently works in Sudan so that his young boys can attend live-in school and receive a quality education. He loves to watch premier league football in his free time, but has recently been preoccupied with his condition. For $330, John will undergo surgery to realign the severed pieces of his mandible. This operation will set his jaw so that it heals properly, allowing him to chew and speak as he did before. This treatment will ensure that John does not experience further pain, or possible infection, so that he can return to work and continue his dream of owning his own business to support his children.

Meet Tha Khue, a three-month old boy from Burma. Tha Khue means “happy," according to our medical partner, Burma Border Projects (BBP). His parents are subsistence farmers and occasional day laborers. Tha Khue has bilary atresia, a rare, life-threatening condition that causes a build of bile that seriously damages the liver. Tha Khue's symptoms include jaundice, a swollen abdomen, and frequent vomiting. $1,500 will fund a Kasai procedure for Tha Khue -- a surgical bypass to prevent liver damage. "Once Tha Khue has received treatment for his biliary atresia, his abdomen will become less extended, he will no longer suffer from jaundice or yellow urine, he will stop vomiting frequently, and cry less," BBP shares. “I am very worried for my son, I hope that he will be able to get treatment for his condition," Tha Khue's father shares. "In the future, I dream that he will grow up to be healthy and maybe even to become a doctor."

Bhawana is a one-year-old girl from Nepal who loves to play in her neighborhood with children her age. Our medical partner, Possible, tells us “she is a jolly child and likes to be showered with affection and attention all the time." One day, while Bhawana was playing on the roof of her house, she accidentally fell off and fractured her wrist. “Her hand has swollen considerably and she has been in pain since,” says Possible. “Bhawana can no longer crawl and play with her hand fractured." With $224, Bhawana’s bones will be correctly aligned and help the fracture heal within a month. Possible expects “after some physiotherapy, she will be able to do all the activities that she used to before." “I am hopeful that my child’s hand will be fixed and that she can grow up normally like other children,” says Bhawana’s mother.