Kyi is a 57-year-old woman, living with her husband in Burma. They shared that together they do not have children and they love to dedicate their time to helping others in their community. Kyi's husband volunteers with the Karen Forestry Department, helps with household chores, and grows rice and vegetables, while also raising chickens for them to eat. Kyi works in a medical clinic helping patients and is training in emergency obstetric care in Thailand. Kyi experiences back and abdominal pain, fatigue and weakness, and other symptoms. Doctors determined that Kyi suffers from gallstones; she has been advised to have her gallbladder removed to heal her symptoms and prevent further complications with her health in the future. After seeking treatment through our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF), Kyi is scheduled to undergo a cholecystectomy on April 7th, at Mae Sot General Hospital. BCMF is requesting $1,500 to cover the cost of Kyi's procedure and care. Kyi is determined to have a big impact in her community and shared: "I want to be healthy so that I can devote my mind, body, and work to fully serving my people until my last breath.”

Naw Mu is an elderly woman who lives in a refugee camp with her husband, daughter and grandson due to tensions between armed groups in their village. Naw Mu’s husband sells snacks at the school campus to earn some income. Prior to her eye condition, Naw Mu was a shop vendor, but she is no longer working A few years ago, Naw Mu started to notice blurry vision in both her eyes. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF), conducted an eye screening in the refugee camp and their staff diagnosed her with cataracts in both eyes. Currently, Naw Mu’s left eye can perceive only light and her right eye can only see at close distances. BMCF is requesting $1,500 to fund lens replacement surgery for her on March 6th. During this procedure, doctors will remove Naw Mu's natural lenses and replace them with an intraocular lens implant in each eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Naw Mu said, “I don’t worry about the operation because it would make me better. I would love to see properly after the operation.”

William is a small-scale farmer from Kenya. He is a married man with twelve children. Some of his oldest children are married while others are still in school. William and his family live in a semi-permanent house. He has been a long-term potato farmer who has been growing them mainly for sale. His family has worked on their farm and it has contributed a lot to their income. Through the limited income William makes, he has been able to provide for his children's basic needs. William has medical insurance that he has been using throughout all his visits for inpatient and outpatient services for his medical procedures. In May 2019, when William was walking along the road, he was hit by a motorbike and he fell down, thus injuring his lower limb. Immediately, he was taken to a facility where he was admitted and surgery was done.  All was well up to last year when he started feeling unwell and decided to visit our partner's hospital. He presented with a lot of pain, he had a wound that was discharging pus, and his affected limb was swollen. An x-ray was recommended and it found that he had a non-union on his fractured bone and he had to be admitted for hardware removal, as it was already infected. He went to the operating theater for infected hardware removal and antibiotic nailing was done in order to treat his infection.  Since the nail was not stable, a patella tendon-bearing cast was applied in order to immobilize his non-united fracture. He has been in and out of the hospital for frequent check-ups, change of dressing, and casts. The wound has not improved and at some time after the antibiotic nailing, he went to the operating room for debridement and vacuum-assisted closure of the wound to help in healing and daily dressing change has been done in a health facility near his home. He also suffered eye problems in between and can barely see at the moment. On Monday when he came for review, his wound was not well and had a foul smell. His hardware needs to be removed, the non-union has to be taken down and a procedure will be done for stability. He was prepared for admission, but then it was realized that he had exhausted his inpatient insurance limit. In order to save his leg, it is vital to perform the surgery immediately. William has no alternative way of paying for his procedure, which is very complex. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner can help. On December 7th, William will undergo a fracture repair procedure that will help William to be able to walk normally and continue with farming to provide for his family. Now, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $679 to fund this medical care. William says, "Spending most of the time in the hospital has been quite challenging. I cannot work or supervise my work as I did before because of my fractured limb. I am really looking forward to getting better in order to stabilize my family again. Please help me."

Ivan is an 11-month-old baby who is very energetic. He is now at the crawling stage, and from the moment he arrived at our medical partner's care centre, Ivan has not stopped crawling from one point to another. Ivan lives with both his parents. His father is a small-scale farmer, and the sole provider for the family, while his mother stays at home taking care of household chores. He is very close to his mother, but also not afraid to meet new people. His mother enjoys watching him move around. She has struggled to find treatment for him since he was a newborn baby. When Ivan was born, his parents tried their best to pay for his treatment, but halfway through the treatment plan, they could not afford to pay anymore. Ivan has clubfoot of his right foot. Clubfoot is a condition in which the foot is twisted out of shape. This causes difficulty walking and wearing shoes as he grows. Fortunately, Ivan's family came to our medical partner's care center, Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on November 8th. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $935 to fund Ivan's clubfoot repair. After treatment, he will be able to walk easily when he grows up. Ivan’s mother says, “my biggest wish is to see my son learn how to stand and eventually start walking.”

John is a 38 year old father of two, living in Kenya. He is separated from his wife, and works as a taxi driver. For ten years, John has experienced difficulty swallowing food and liquid. He tried to treat his condition with traditional medicines, but that has been unsuccessful. When his condition worsened and he found himself losing weight, John decided to meet with doctors from our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation. He was diagnosed with Achalasia, which is usually the result of damage to the esophagus. In order to prevent his condition from progressing, John will require surgery. Thanks to the assistance of our medical partner, John will undergo a curative laparotomy on October 17th, at AIC Kijabe Hospital, which should restore his ability to swallow, and return him to good health. John is requesting your support to fund this procedure, which will cost $1,074. John says: “My neck is paining, and I am unable to swallow solid foods. I have seriously lost a lot of weight. I need this treatment to be able to eat and be well again.”

Chaw is 20-year-old who lives with his parents and three younger sister in a refugee camp. Chaw's sisters go to school, his mother is a homemaker and his father and brother work as agricultural day labourers. Chaw's brother lives on his employer's land and sends the family what money he can every month. After his accident, Chaw stopped working on the same farm as his brother. In his free time, before his accident, Chaw liked to play football with his friends and visit with them. In 2020, Chaw was carrying corn to the peeling machine where he worked and he slipped and hit his left lower leg against the fan of the machine. Chaw was in a great deal of pain and was brought to the hospital. Chaw was told that his left lower leg was broken, and underwent surgery to insert a steel rod into his leg. This past January, Chaw noticed a mass on his left lower leg, where he had received surgery. The mass was very painful and felt hot to the touch. Over time, the mass increased in size until his whole lower left leg became swollen. Although he received surgery to remove the mass, Chaw's leg never fully healed. Eventually he was diagnosed with osteomyelitis and was told the steel rod in his leg would need to be replaced. Chaw is in a lot of pain and his lower left leg continues to be swollen and red. He cannot sleep well and needs crutches and assistance to move around. With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF), Chaw will undergo surgery to reset his fractured bones and ensure proper healing. The procedure is scheduled for September 6th and BCMF is raising $1,500 to cover the cost of this life-changing procedure that will help Chaw walk free of pain. Chaw shared, “I am happy that I will receive surgery with the help of the organisation [Burma Children Medical Fund] and I am thankful to all of the donors. In the future I want to get better quickly. I will find a new job and support my family.”

Peter is a 75-year-old man from central Kenya who has never been married and has no children. He is the thirdborn in a family of 10 siblings, all of whom are now adults. Peter previously worked on his small farm to support his basic needs, but he had to begin depending on his family members once he grew older and became unable to continue farming. On July 12th, Peter was hit by a sports motorcycle, causing him to sustain an injury to his left leg. An X-ray was taken at a nearby hospital, which showed that Peter fractured his left tibia and fibula. If left untreated, he risks developing a bone infection, since it is an open fracture. His injury can also result in a malunion, meaning the bones may not heal in their proper position, potentially impairing functioning of the bones and limb. Fortunately, his brother brought him to our medical partner's care center. On August 15th, Peter will undergo a fracture repair procedure, called an open reduction and internal fixation. This procedure will help ensure he heals properly, and it will allow him to walk again. Now, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,049 to fund this procedure. Peter says, “My brothers have been feeding me, but this is too much for them. They have no money to pay for my treatment. Please help so that at least I can be able to move around and also become less of a burden.”

Chhorn is a 56-year-old rice and vegetable farmer from Cambodia. He is married and has three sons and one daughter. Two of his sons are married and work in construction. Chhorn enjoys talking with friends, listening to the news on the radio, and watching TV. Two years ago, Chhorn began experiencing hip pain and is now unable to walk. He has avascular necrosis of the right and left hip, meaning a lack of blood supply is causing the death of the bone tissue in his hips. Fortunately, a neighbor told Chhorn about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC). At CSC's care center, surgeons will perform a total hip replacement to relieve Chhorn of his pain and allow him to walk easily. Treatment is scheduled for July 20th. Chhorn needs help raising $1,118 to pay for this procedure. Chhorn says, "I hope I can walk without pain after my surgery."

Meet Thib, a 21-year-old who has two brothers and two sisters. All of his siblings are married, except for his youngest sister. Thib's parents are farmers. In his free time, Thib enjoys playing football, going fishing, and helping his family do housework. Last November, Thib was in a motor vehicle accident, where he sustained multiple injuries. He arrived at our Medical Partner Children's Surgical Centre (CSC) with a heel laceration and a tibia fracture. The tibia fracture is now infected, and the wound on his heel remains open. Thib requires surgery to clean the wound and to repair the fracture. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is seeking $991 to fund the necessary procedure, which is scheduled for June 14th at Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre. After he has recovered, Thib should be able to resume all of his daily activities, free from pain. Thib says: "I hope after surgery my leg is healed and I have no more infection or pain. I want to walk well enough to return to work."

Abity is an adorable 5-year-old boy who loves food and playing with friends. He spends his days playing football and loves to play with toys. He is a shy child in front of new people, and especially likes spending time with his sister and a brother. His mom is a daily laborer finding work whenever she can and his dad has been sick for some years resulting in him leaving his job in a government office. They shared that there are days that his mom gets outside work and there are days that she spends at home. All the children in their family are not able to go to school yet as a result of Abity's health and the financial constraint in the family. Abity's has an abnormally functioning segment of bowel. He has suffered with partial bowel obstruction & other severe symptoms. He now is waiting for a procedure called a coloanal pull through. His parents shared that because of the condition, they are also affected psychologically. Abity's mom hoped that we could help him to finally heal, she said: “His belly was too big before the colostomy and we were so scared and sad. When I was confused as to what I could do, people advised me to go to a charitable organization and the organization brought me here.”