“It is so sad to see my little son in pain. I’ll be very glad when I see him recover from treatment," says the father of Caleb, a five-day-old boy from Kenya. Caleb has spina bifida, also known as a neural tube defect, that caused an open cyst on his back. If untreated Caleb is likely to develop an infection, tethered cord, or kyphoscoliosis, which is an irregular curvature of the spine. Caleb’s parents have not been able to raise funds for Caleb’s surgery and are worried about their only child. With $805 our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, will be able to provide Caleb with spina bifida closure surgery. This will help prevent infection and any possibility of tethered cord or kyphoscoliosis development. Together, we can help Caleb grow up healthy!

Meet Soinize, a 50-year-old woman from Haiti who has a type of cancer in her eye known as squamous cell carcinoma. Because of this she has clouded retinas, partial loss of vision, and severe irritation. Soinize is in so much pain that she is often unable to sleep at night. Soinize's husband passed away, so she cares for her four children and pays for their schooling by herself. She washes clothes for her neighbors and sells goods on the street to earn some money, but it’s not enough to support her family and pay for her own medical treatment. To get the appropriate treatment for her cancer, Soinize will need to spend six weeks at a hospital in the Dominican Republic. She needs surgical intervention, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. With $1500 we can help support Soinize on her long journey to health.

Vivian has tethered cord syndrome, a condition in which the spinal cord is held taut at the bottom. As a result, she has weak lower extremities, and has urine and bowel incontinence. She frequently experiences lower back pain. Vivian is an only child. She lives with her mother, who works at a flower farm to support herself and Vivian. For $675, we can help Vivian receive a tethered cord release surgery that will alleviate her systems and make a normal life possible. Vivian's mom is doing her best to look after her, but cannot afford the cost of this treatment. Still, she is optimistic. She says, “It is painful to see my daughter cry in pain, however I look forward to her treatment and recovery.” Let's help Vivian receive treatment and turn that optimism into reality!

Meet Indra, a 17-year-old girl from Nepal. She likes to play kabadi, an Indian form of wrestling, and wants to be an agriculture technician when she grows up. Indra also attends school and has some big exams coming up! Indra recently fell from a tree while collecting food for her family's buffalo, fracturing her ankle. The accident has distracted Indra from her studies. If left untreated, Indra's ankle wound can lead to skin infections, or worse, chronic osteomyelitis - a bone infection that many people with untreated fractures in this part of Nepal develop. For $1,495, Indra will receive surgery to treat her wound and relocate her bone fracture. Then she will be mobile, free from discomfort, and able to focus on school again!

Laandare is not your ordinary 17-year-old. He graduated primary school last year and often had his nose buried in a book reading, writing, or solving mathematical equations. Laandare was also a star football player - despite never playing a full game because of his condition. He has difficulty walking or running long distances due to knock knees. If untreated, he has an increased chance of developing early osteoarthritis. As the eldest son of six children, Laandare has been helping his father herd cattle, but their income is neither reliable nor enough to cover his surgery. For $555, Laandare can get the treatment he needs to treat his legs. Let's help Laandare make strong strides towards his dream. Laandare says, “My dream is to one day become a mathematics teacher and teach students the way my math teacher used to teach me.”

Meet Sok Ly! He is a wonderful cook from Cambodia who also loves to sing. He unfortunately has also been living with hip pain for the past two years, caused by a bone infection. Sok Ly has received medical help from a traditional healer, but he is still in constant pain and cannot go to work. Sok Ly needs a total hip replacement to end his pain and allow him to go back to living his life. Once Sok Ly receives the surgery, he can finally return to work - he's been out for a year - and walk without pain. Let's help raise the $500 needed to help him get back on his feet!

When Peterson was three months old, he began showing symptoms of hydrocephalus. He has excess fluid in his brain, which makes his head swollen and places excess pressure on his nerves and the blood vessels in his brain. Peterson now has seizures that keep him from easily moving his hands. This six-month-old little boy hails from the countryside of Haiti. His mother looks after him and his siblings while also attending school. She cannot afford the $1,260 procedure that could save her son's life. With our support, Peterson will receive surgery to drain the excess fluid from his brain. His seizures will occur less frequently, or stop altogether. Doctors expect that his head and face will return to a normal state. Let’s help Peterson live a healthier life!

When you hear "benign tumor," you usually breathe a sigh of relief. But Ma Htwe's tumor is pressing on her optic nerve. In addition to causing severe headaches, eye pain, and a stiff neck, the tumor has caused her to lose vision in her right eye and destroyed her peripheral vision. Ma Htwe's left eye will be the next to go. But by funding a $1,500 surgery to remove the tumor, there's a good chance we can prevent that from happening and improve the vision she's lost. Ma Htwe’s husband is an agricultural day laborer who earns about $2 a day. When they need extra money, they borrow from a local money-lender at 5% interest. That's not a viable option to cover the cost of the surgery Ma Htwe needs to live a normal life again. Ma Htwe says that when she thinks about her health situation, she feels panicked, anxious and scared. When she has to buy medicine, she and her husband do not always have enough money for food. Let's show them that the world won't make them decide between basic healthcare and eating a meal.

Meet Ruth, a one-month-old baby girl from Kenya. Ruth was born with a condition called spina bifida. This leaves her with an open wound on her lower back and at high risk of a tethered cord infection or kyphoscoliosis. Ruth is an only child. Her parents own a plot of land where they practice small scale farming. Ruth's father is not employed and can not pay for the treatment that his daughter needs. In Swahili, Ruth's mother tells the staff at African Mission Healthcare Foundation, "Ruth is so precious to me, and I pray that she gets treatment soon enough so that she can live a healthy life." For $980, we can cover the necessary and urgent surgery required to close the wound exposing Ruth's spine. The surgery will enable Ruth to live a normal and healthy life. Let's make sure Ruth receives treatment and grows into a healthy young girl.

Eight years ago, Juan lost his arm in an explosion. The incident severely impacted his productivity at work and around the house. As much as his family loves and supports him, 37-year-old Juan says he feels bad to have to rely on them so much to perform basic tasks. When Juan heard that our medical partner in Guatemala, Wuqu' Kawoq, provides fittings for prosthetic limbs, he jumped at the chance to receive one. Juan's doctors report that he has excellent residual limb anatomy and anticipate that he will have a great functional outcome from the prosthetic arm. They note that they love how proactive Juan is being with his care! By raising $940, we can help Juan overcome the previously insurmountable price barrier of getting a prosthetic arm. Let’s make this happen for him!

Fourteen-year-old Zablon lives with his parents and nine brothers and sisters in Tanzania. In addition to the typical trials of being a middle child, Zablon experiences pain when walking due to a deformity of his right shin bone, which has affected him since birth. Zablon’s parents are farmers; they don’t earn enough to support the whole family as well as afford the surgery that Zablon needs to correct his shin and help prevent osteoarthritis as he grows older. For $400, we can fund the surgery that will let Zablon walk pain-free like his peers and send him on his way pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor!

Dianna is a 32-year-old woman who lives with her family in Kenya. Dianna is pregnant, and experiencing abdominal pain and fevers that her doctors believe are symptoms of her pregnancy. Dianna works as a farmer and grows maize and beans to feed her family. Her husband provides for the family by working as a gold digger. $215 would provide Dianna with the medical care she needs to assure that she has a safe pregnancy and access to high quality medical care after her delivery.