Yi Swe is a 55-year-old woman who has been diagnosed with a cardiac condition, mitral valve stenosis. This means that a valve in her heart has narrowed and blocks blood flow. Throughout her life, Yi Swe has lived in nine different cities and towns in Burma, and for the past three years she has lived the capital. She has worked for a government agency since 1981. She lives with her two sisters. Their monthly income is enough to cover their daily expenses, but they cannot afford expensive healthcare. In 1990, Yi Swe noticed the symptoms of her cardiac condition for the first time. She grew tired easily and was sleeping poorly. She first sought care at a local clinic. The clinic gave her medication, which helped to improve her symptoms. In December of the same year, Yi Swe’s condition grew more severe. She was very tired and had difficulty breathing. She visited a hospital in Rangoon, where she underwent blood and urine tests and an x-ray. The doctor drained fluid from her lungs and performed a mitral valvotomy to open the narrowed valve. The surgery greatly improved her condition. For the next 25 years, Yi Swe’s condition was markedly better. However, in 2015, her original symptoms returned. She sought care at a local hospital. Over three visits, she underwent blood and urine tests, an x-ray, an echocardiogram, an electrocardiogram, and an ultrasound. She was advised to undergo a mitral valve replacement, and she was scheduled to receive surgery three years in the future, in 2019. Yi Swe started to look for an alternative treatment option and was eventually referred to our medical partner. On December 19, 2016, she underwent a mitral valve replacement. Throughout this whole process, Yi Swe has been working to pay for her treatments. Now, she needs help to fund this final $1,500 surgery.

Aron is a 21-month-old boy from Tanzania. He is the oldest child in his family. One day, Aron's parents noticed that he was in pain. He began to vomit after eating. He was taken to the hospital, where he was diagnosed with an umbilical hernia, a swelling near his navel. Aron's family was advised to visit our medical partner's hospital, Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre (ALMC). Without treatment, he was at risk of intestinal damage. Fortunately, on January 2, ALMC surgeons performed a hernia repair procedure. Aron's parents operate a small business to earn a living. Their income, however, is not sufficient to pay for Aron's surgery. They need help to raise $610. "My wish is that my son will be able to eat well without feeling sick or vomiting," says Aron's mother.

Chanthou is a 27-year-old farmer who has two sisters and two brothers. He likes to read magazines and watch boxing on TV. In December 2011, Chanthou was robbed. He suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder blade, which damaged his arteries. As a result, his right arm was paralyzed. After three months of treatment at a hospital in Phnom Penh, movement of his shoulder and flexion of his elbow improved. However, the flexion of his right wrist and fingers remained impaired. When Chanthou learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), he traveled for five hours to seek treatment. On November 2, CSC surgeons performed a tendon repair surgery. After recovery, Chanthou will regain function in his right hand. Now, he needs help to fund this $450 surgery.

Parash is a 12-year-old boy who lives with his parents and siblings in Nepal. He studies in grade eight. He has a beautiful voice, and loves singing and dancing. His parents tend to the farm for a living. When the going gets tough, his father seasonally migrates to India to work as a laborer and makes ends meet. Parash was playing on a rope swing when the branch of the tree it was on snapped. He fell and landed on his left hand, fracturing his wrist. He also cut his lip in the accident. Parash has been in constant pain since then. He has difficulty writing in school and cannot eat or dress on his own. Parash's father took five hours of jeep ride to reach the hospital for treatment. $195 will cover the costs of the care Parash needs for his wrist to properly heal, including an x-ray, cast, and physiotherapy. Let's help raise the funds! Parash's father says, "On hearing the service providing from this hospital, I brought my son here. So, I wish for his well treatment."

Meet Joshua, a five-year-old boy who loves his mother very much. Like other boys his age, he wants to be with his friends and play with them. However, right now, he prefers to play with his relatives because the other children tease him about the way he speaks. They say that he is " Ngo-ngo" or " Punga" which are terms that indicate he cannot pronounce words well. Because of this, Joshua is often very shy around other people. Joshua has a cleft lip and palate, a congenital facial malformation where there was not enough developed tissue for his lip. This has significantly affected his ability to speak. Apart from his condition, Joshua is a loving and active child, willing to help his family in the best way possible. He wants to be a doctor someday and treat kids with conditions like his. $1,464 will pay for surgical services provided by Watsi's medical partner, International Care Ministries. Plastic surgeons will mend the soft tissue of the cleft palate, rearranging the muscles to close the gap. After treatment, Joshua is excited to able to talk normally like his friends. His mother was very thankful that help will be given to Joshua, since the family cannot afford the treatment on their own. His father is not working and his mother is a vendor who earns only enough for their daily needs. Joshua's mother shares with us, "We really want Joshua to be treated so that he will enjoy his childhood. Although we cannot afford treatment, we do not cease to pray that someday he will get treated and talk normally. This operation will really change his life. Thank you so much for making this possible for Joshua."

“We are not in a position to raise the funds needed for our daughters’ surgery,” says Shantel’s father, “but we are asking for help in ensuring her well-being.” Shantel is a beautiful nine-month-old girl who lives with her parents and older sister in a two-room rental house in Kenya. Like most babies, Shantel was born with a protruding navel. But whereas in most cases the navel retracts with time, Shantel’s belly button remained swollen. This worried her parents, and when they consulted doctors, they learned that their baby has an umbilical hernia. This means that the hole through which Shantel’s umbilical cord passed did not close as it should have after the cord was cut, and tissue has pushed through the opening. Shantel needs to have surgery to repair her hernia. If she isn’t treated soon, Shantel could experience life-threatening complications, such as abdominal incarceration, obstruction, or/and strangulation—conditions where parts of the protruding tissue become cut off from blood flow. Shantel’s parents were able to raise $52 for Shantel’s surgery, but that is not enough to cover their child’s surgery. Shantel’s father is a subsistence farmer and supplements his income by doing casual tasks, while her mother stays at home to take care of their two children. $430 will cover Shantel’s hernia repair operation, as well as her lab tests, medications, and two-day hospital stay. Let’s help get Shantel’s young life back on track.

Sophally was hit by a drunk driver on April 10th, 2016. The accident left her with a left humerus (upper arm bone) fracture and left forearm trauma. She was unconscious the night of the accident and was taken to a provincial hospital that wanted to amputate her arm, but she refused the procedure. Sophally is 35 years old and lives in Cambodia with her husband and two sons. She enjoys watching movies on television and selling goods from her home. After an unsuccessful attempt to treat her fractures at home using Khmer traditional medicine, Sophally traveled three hours with her brother to reach Watsi's medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), for treatment. Surgeons at CSC will perform an open reduction internal fixation surgery on Sophally's left arm, resetting the fractured bones and fixing them in place using plates, screws, and rods. Sophally requires financial assistance to afford the $405 surgery, however, as the money she makes selling goods from her home goes towards supporting her family. After a successful surgery, Sophally will regain use of her arm and eventually be free of pain.

Meet Mackendy, a 2 year old boy from Port-Au-Prince, Haiti. Mackendy was was born with developmental disabilities - one being the three holes in his heart, respectively called a patent ductus arteriosus, an atrial septal defect, and a ventricular septal defect. The net effect of these holes leaves him sickly and weak because it allows oxygen-rich and oxygen-poor blood to mix in his heart without passing through the lungs. Because of the complexity of his condition, Mackendy requires a cardiac catheterization to determine whether he is eligible to have surgery. This procedure cannot be done in Haiti, and so he is being taken to the Dominican Republic to undergo the procedure, in which a catheter will be inserted through his groin into his heart to take measurements—his treatment will cost $1,500. Mackendy lives with his loving mother and father and one older brother. Mackendy is very attached to both of his parents, and enjoys playing with his brother. His father is a driver for a package delivery company, and his mother works part-time in the market. His father says, "We are very grateful to everyone who is helping us with Mackendy, we want to see him be able to grow and play like other boys his age."

On February 2nd, 2016, Mey and her mom were in a moto accident. This caused a femur fracture and open popliteal wound for Mey. Mey's mom was 9 months pregnant at the time of the accident. After the accident, Mey and her mom went to the hospital. Mey's wound was closed without exploration and a nail was put into her femur. Mey's mom had a C-section to deliver the baby (Mey's little brother). Mey is a five-year-old from Cambodia in first grade. She enjoys playing with toys, dolls, and with her friends at school. Mey traveled 2 hours with her mom to reach our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), for treatment. When Mey arrived at CSC, she had complete palsy below her knee and a popliteal region scar. It is difficult for her to walk. For $392, we can fund the nerve suture and graft Mey needs to regain her strength. Surgeons will operate on the tibial nerve at popliteal fossa, or colloquially referred to as the kneepit, and perform a nerve suture and graft. After surgery she should regain control of her lower leg and it will be easier for her to walk. Let's help make it possible!

“While playing in a tree in February 2016, Chakriya fell and fractured her right forearm. She is unable to move her arm without pain,” shares our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre (CSC). Chakriya is a nine-year-old girl from Cambodia. She is in second grade and has two sisters and one brother. She enjoys reading books, watching TV, and playing with other children around her home. Chakriya and her parents travelled three hours to CSC to seek treatment. She is in need of a ORIF procedure, a surgery in which doctors will realign her fractured bones and secure them in place with the help of pins. $405 will cover the cost of Chakriya’s surgery as well as her hospital stay, x-rays, and medication. After surgery, Chakriya should regain use of her arm and no longer experience pain. “After surgery I hope our daughter can use her elbow normally. When she is healed she will go home and continue to study,” share Chakriya’s parents.

Meet Uzeyfen, a two-month-old baby boy living in Ethiopia with his parents. Uzeyfen was born with a birth defect known as anorectal malformation. According to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, (AMHF), "Children with this defect have an imperforate anus or they have no opening where the anus should have been. Uzeyfen developed bowel obstruction because of this condition and an emergency colostomy was successfully done when he was four days old." Uzeyfen has not yet had the definitive procedure to treat this condition; Posterior sagittal anorectoplasty (PSARP) and colostomy closure. As a result, he cannot pass stool in the normal way. Uzeyfen's mother is worried about her son because there is a high social stigma against children with this condition. Although Uzeyfen's father works hard in a government office to provide for his family, his income is not enough to cover all of the medical procedures that Uzeyfen needs. With a donation of $1,500 we can help Uzeyfen recover without long-term complications from his imperforate anus. He will undergo a PSARP procedure and a colostomy closure. After these two procedures, "Uzeyfen will then be able to pass stool in a normal way," AMHF says. "When we were informed there is hope for our baby to get treatment through donors, we were happy and full of hope,” shared Uzeyfen's parents in their pre-operative interview at AMHF.

“Taina is an intelligent and cheerful girl who enjoys going to school and is in the third grade,” says our medical partner, Haiti Cardiac Alliance (HCA). Taina also likes to play with dolls and make new friends. Taina was born with a cardiac condition called atrial septal defect. "A hole exists between the two upper chambers of her heart," explains HCA. "Blood leaks through this hole without first passing through the lungs to obtain oxygen, leaving her sickly and weak.” Taina requires surgery to repair the opening between the atria in her heart. “Following surgery, normal blood flow should be restored to Taina’s heart and body,” says HCA, “and she should no longer have symptoms from this condition.” However, Taina needs help securing funding for her operation. “Her mother passed away when she was young, and she lived in the streets for some time before being enrolled into an orphanage,” says HCA. Gift of Life International has contributed $5,000 towards her surgery, and an additional $1,500 in Watsi funding is needed to cover preparation and transportation costs, as this surgery is not readily available in Haiti. With our help, Taina can receive the medical care she needs to restore her health. “I am very excited to have my surgery so that I can play with my friends without getting tired,” she shares.