Peace is a farmer and a mother of five girls who are all married and practice small-scale farming to earn a living. Peace and her husband also earn their living through small-scale farming. The family is not in a financial position to cater for the surgery Peace needs and are appealing for financial assistance. Ten years ago, Peace began to experience troubling symptoms, including an anterior neck swelling, persistent headache, losing breath, drowsiness, and a lot more swelling at night. She was diagnosed with multiple nodular goiter. She needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Peace receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on November 12th at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $252, and she and her family need help raising money. Peace says, "I sometimes fail to breathe so well at night. I hope the surgery will change that."

Turyakira is a 67-year-old woman from Western Uganda. She is a married mother of eight children who practices subsistence farming. She lives with her husband who is unfortunately bedridden due to a stroke. For the past two years, she has struggled with an intragluteal lump that has gradually increased in size. She has pain, itchiness and discomfort, especially when she tries to sit down. She was diagnosed with elastofibroma, a benign tumor that requires excision. Turyakira traveled to the care center of our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, to receive treatment. On February 16th, surgeons will remove the mass. Now, Turyakira needs help to raise $196 to fund this procedure. Turyakira shared, “I am the only one taking care of my family because my husband is sick. I hope with surgery, I will regain my health and continue with farming to keep up with my family.”

Lim is a 72-year-old rice farmer from Cambodia. She has seven children and thirty grandchildren, and she enjoys listening to the monks pray on the radio in her free time. One year ago, Lim developed a cataract in each eye, causing her blurry vision. She has difficulty seeing things clearly, recognizing faces, and going anywhere outside. When Lim learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, she traveled for three and a half hours seeking treatment. On March 18, doctors will perform a small incision cataract surgery and an intraocular lens implant in each eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Now, she needs help to fund this $398 procedure. She says, "I hope that after my surgery, I am able to return to the pagoda and rejoin in the ceremonies, as well as take care of my grandchildren."

Meet Muhangi, a 17-year-old boy from Uganda. Muhangi wishes to be a doctor in the future and spends his time studying for school. About one year ago, Muhangi began to experience a painful swelling in his scrotum, which was later diagnosed as a hernia. Over time, his hernia progressed until the pain was so severe that he sometimes had to miss school. Muhangi sought treatment through our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, and he is now scheduled to undergo hernia repair surgery on July 6. He is requesting $219 to cover the total cost of his procedure and care. Muhangi’s aunt says, “After surgery, I hope my son to have peace of mind and he continues school for a better future and I will continue with farming.”

50-year-old Kyomugisha lives in a small village in Uganda with her husband and their nine children, five of whom are still in school. Kyomugisha stays at home to take care of the house and children, and her husband works as a casual laborer doing odd jobs in the community. She has a kitchen garden where she cuts bananas for her family and fetches water from a stream eight kilometers away. Kyomugisha has a goiter, or an enlarged thyroid. The swelling causes severe pain, difficulty breathing and eating, and palpitations. The pain from the goiter began in 1998, according to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF). At the time, Kyomugisha could not afford the necessary surgery. Once she learned about the Watsi partnership at Nyakibale Hospital, she came to seek medical assistance. $170 will fund Kyomugisha’s thyroidectomy, which will remove the goiter and allow her to recover fully. “She will be free from the pain, palpitations, and be able to work well,” says AMHF. “I am scared of surgery but because I hope to be strong afterwards, I am encouraged that it will go well,” shares Kyomugisha.

Meet Khamt, a 16-year-old boy from Burma. When Khamt entered ninth grade he came down with a fever and fatigue, so his mother took him to the closest private clinic, six hours away. "At the clinic, they learned that he had a heart problem and needed to go to Rangoon for treatment," says our medical partner Burma Border Projects (BBP). "Since his family lacked the financial resources required to get him treatment, they were not able to pursue further care." Even though Khamt continues to experience fatigue, labored breathing, and a poor appetite due to his ventricular septal defect, he still attends school. "He strongly desires to complete school and attend a university to become a public worker," BBP explains. "He thoroughly enjoys studying economics and is also intrigued by the idea of medic training." However, his mother worries that he may not be able to reach these goals with his current condition. "She fears for his prognosis and worries about the possibility of his health declining," BBP says. For $1,500, we can fund Khamt's heart treatment so he can regain his health. "Khamt says the idea of surgery does not scare him and that he would love to be able to play sports with his classmates and friends," BBP tells us. "He hopes that surgery will allow him to be more active and live life to the fullest."

This is Amon's second time on Watsi. His first surgery didn't go as planned, so we're hoping to fund his second chance at health. Amon is a 17-year-old boy from Kenya who does well in school and hopes to become a policeman. He's been diagnosed with [cerebral arteriovenus malformation (AVM)](http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/brain-avm/DS01126), a disorder caused by an abnormal cluster of veins in his brain. Amon suffers from severe headaches, dizziness, incoordination, and is at risk of sudden death if his AVM hemorrhages (bleeds into his brain). Last month, Watsi donors [funded surgery](https://watsi.org/profile/7c2ddbf717e5-amon) to remove Amon's AVM. Unfortunately, when Amon's doctors began operating, they realized that his AVM is much larger and more complex than they originally thought. Now, Amon needs a second surgery. His doctors warn that his case is extremely difficult. But they say that if he doesn't have surgery, it's only a matter of time before his condition "will cause his death." When Amon's father found out that Watsi donors were going to have the opportunity to fund his son's treatment again, he said he was "speechless that people who have never met me and my son would carry our burden in their hearts." Let's show Amon and his family that they're not in this alone.

Amon is a Kenyan high school student who, for months, has suffered from headaches, dizziness, and problems with coordination. Recently, Amon was diagnosed with cerebral arteriovenous malformation, a brain condition that can be life-threatening if left untreated. Doctors at Kijabe hospital tell us that the most likely curative treatment for Amon's condition is a craniotomy. During the procedure, surgeons will temporarily remove part of Amon's skull, resect the abnormal vessels, and set his brain up to function normally. Amon is the fourth of five children. He lives with his parents and siblings in a small village in central Kenya. Amon’s father works as a driver at a coffee farm near their home town and his mother stays home to take care of the children. Amon says he admires his older cousin, and "hopes to be a policeman when he finishes school." This surgery will help make that possible.