“Once I am well, I hope to open a hardware shop near our home to improve our economic situation,” says 40-year-old Mary, who lives in Kenya with her husband and two children. According to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), Mary has cancer on her left breast.
“Mary has a two-year history of breast mass which has been hardening over time,” AMHF explains. “She experiences intermittent periods of pain on her breast. If not treated, the cancer may advance to other parts of her body and become fatal.”
“Mary’s personal journey has been remarkably sad,” AMHF shares. “After being displaced during the Kenyan post-election clashes of 2007-2008 and having all of her family’s belongings torches, Mary began afresh. Her husband founded a church while she began working as a postage clerk. Because of her breast cancer, Mary has sometimes not gone to work because of the pain.”
Despite the many advances for Mary’s family, she told AMHF that, “we are yet to be stable after the displacement, our house is incomplete and what we make is barely enough for sustenance.”
$740 will cover the cost of Mary’s mastectomy and chemotherapy to treat her breast cancer.
“We hope that after a left mastectomy is performed, the spreading of the potentially fatal cancer may be halted,” AMHF says. “Mary will be able to fully participate in working for her family and raising her children.”