Meet Saul, a very cheerful 11-year-old boy from Guatemala. Saul likes attending school and playing soccer. Unfortunately, sometimes he is prevented from doing his favorite activities because he has life-threatening asthma attacks. Saul's condition grew worse when he moved from a tropical region of the country to the highlands. Our medical partners at Wuqu' Kawoq report that "since asthma is a condition that is not common or well-understood in the Guatemalan medical community, he's not received proper ongoing treatment and education to get his disease into remission." Saul tells his doctors that he would like to get better so that he can be 'normal' like the other kids at school. For $450, we can grant this wish to Saul. He will receive intensive asthma therapy that will allow him to achieve better long-term asthma control as well as improve his exercise ability and performance in school. Let's give Saul a reason to keep smiling!

Scolostica is 23-years-old and has a bright future ahead of her. She excels in her education, and plans to continue studying at a university to become a lawyer. Her parents are farmers with meager incomes, but they've made attending school a priority for all of their children, selling produce to pay for school fees. Recently, Scolostica broke her left clavicle. Her parents cannot afford the medical expenses to have it treated. Her injury requires care soon, or she is likely to tear the skin, leaving her susceptible to persistent wounds. For $700, we can fund Scolostica’s surgery to repair her clavicle and help her reach her dreams!

Violet is an 18-year-old woman from Kenya who spends her days helping her family farm maize, beans, groundnuts, cabbages and sugarcane. The money her family raises goes towards school fees and to supplement their needs. Violet is pregnant and has recently experienced body-wide itching and back pain. For $215, we can help Violet be able to deliver her baby in a safe and clean health facility, under the care of a skilled clinician. She will also receive regular check ups, maternal health education, and a baby checkup before going home.

Samuel is a resilient 33-year-old man who remains in good spirits and has a generous heart despite his medical condition. As a newborn he had hydrocephalus, a potentially life-threatening condition of excess fluid in the brain, but survived and grew up to do fairly well. A few months ago, Samuel started to experience severe headaches and seizures. He was diagnosed with a mucocele (a mucus-containing cystic lesion) in his brain. If left untreated, Samuel will continue to have severe symptoms which can lead to premature death. Samuel currently lives with his mother in a small village. She has been the rock of their family, supporting him and his five siblings single-handedly after the death of their father years ago. The income she makes from her small vegetable farm combined with Samuel’s wages from working as a casual laborer are still not enough to cover the medical care he needs. The craniotomy needed to remove the mucocele from Samuel’s brain costs $1,500. The doctors expect this will relieve his symptoms and help him live a long and healthy life. “I would love to open a kiosk when I get better. Then I could help my mother,” says Samuel. Let’s make this happen for him!

Chausiku is an amiable and polite 14-year-old girl who lives with her grandmother in Tanzania. When she grows up, Chausiku wants to become a nurse. Her grandmother sells vegetables at a local market, but with a small income she is dependent on her son for additional support. Chausiku has a bone infection in her right thigh bone and her grandmother can't afford her medical care. If the injury is left untreated, she is at risk of developing a fracture in her bone. The infection makes it difficult for Chausiku to walk, and she no longer attends school as a result. Chausiku needs to undergo surgery to remove the infected bone from her leg. For $700, she will get the treatment she needs to heal her leg and continue her education.