Give the gift of healthcare

Say Poe is a 6-year-old daughter of three from Burma. She lives with her family in a village in Karen State, Burma where her grandparents and stepfather are farmers while her mother runs a small shop and the rest of the family sells rice when able. Say Poe goes to school and likes to play with her doll in her free time. Currently, Say Poe’s vision out of her right eye is blurred and she has facial palsy on her left side. Her right ear also sometimes bleeds. Her condition does not cause her great pain, but it affects her vision and makes it difficult for her to see. Doctors recommend Say Poe undergo a CT scan, a procedure in which x-ray images taken from several angles are combined to produce cross-sectional images of the body. This scan will hopefully help doctors diagnose her condition and formulate an appropriate treatment plan. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $414 to cover the cost of Say Poe's CT scan and care, scheduled for March 9th. Say Poe's mother said, “I am so nervous and worry something will happen to my daughter severely. I hope she will be able to get proper treatment and has no complications [head injury post trauma]. I am worried and feel stress about her. I will try everything to help her get treatment. I want her grow up and live like other healthy children. I want her to become an educated person and helpful for the community."

Mary is an eight-year-old girl. She is a talkative and playful young girl. She is the last born in a family of seven children and the family is not well off financially. Both of her parents do casual jobs like ploughing people's farms for a living and such jobs are not easy to find where they live. Sometimes the church members chip in to help them where they can. When Mary was one year old, she was involved in an accident where she sustained burns to her head, some parts of her face and neck. She was rushed to the hospital and was admitted for better care. While in the hospital, a surgery was done on her head where she had sustained more burns. She was then discharged and booked for wound dressing clinics. The wounds were healing well as per the doctors’ plan. Her parents managed to take her for the clinics for a few months but later stopped because of finances. While at home, the wound got infected but due to lack of funds, she was not taken to hospital at that time. Time went by and the infection spread to most parts of the head. When she was three years old, the family met up with a local pastor who started helping them. He started financing Mary’s hospital visits with the help of some church members where he ministered. The wound was dressed again but the recovery process was very slow. In mid this year, the pastor brought them to Kijabe Hospital, she was examined, and the wound was dressed properly. Since then, the wound has been healing as expected. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Mary receive treatment. On December 9th, surgeons will perform a debridement and skin graft procedure to help the remaining wound to heal properly. Now, Mary's family needs help to fund this $1,185 procedure. Mary’s father says, "Since the accident, we have been struggling a lot to make her get the required treatment but have failed to some extent. Coming to Kijabe, our hopes have been boosted greatly with the improvement she has experienced, and we hope that she will go through with the surgery and be well again.”

Angelina is a mother of three children aged between 12 and 27 years old. She and her husband work as manual laborers in Kenya, but the income from this venture is inconsistent and negligible to pay for the proposed surgery. Angelina has been diagnosed with breast cancer. Without treatment, the cancer may spread to other organs. Thus, doctors suggested she undergo a mastectomy to prevent the cancer from metastasizing. On February 3rd, Angelina will undergo a mastectomy, a surgery to remove breast tissue, with the help of our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation. After treatment, Angelina will hopefully return to a cancer-free life. Angelina needs help raising $1,110 to fund her procedure and care. Angelina says, “I am still in shock after hearing this cancer news. I hope to get treatment soon to stop it.”

Kahna, who is 10 years old, lives in Cambodia with her parents and younger brother. Her mother works in a garment factory, while her father is a construction worker. Kahna loves school and hopes to become a teacher when she grows up. About a month ago, Kahna was bitten by an insect on her left little finger. Since then, a contracture has developed, and she is unable to move her finger or use her hand properly. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is seeking assistance to fund the $487 contracture release surgery that Kahna needs, which is currently scheduled to take place on February 22nd, at Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre. After the surgery is complete, Kahna should regain the full use of her hand. After surgery, her mom hopes that she can use her hand like before.

Niwarinda is a 27-year-old mother to a preschooler. She completed college and was trained to be a grade 3 nursery school teacher, but her profession was removed from the Ugandan professions list. She tried to open her own small business, but, unfortunately, her husband--a boda boda driver (a motorcycle taxi driver for hire)--was in an accident and they lost everything. Thankfully, her husband recovered well and he is now back at work. Six months ago, Niwarinda began to experience troubling symptoms, including night sweats, hoarseness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. She was diagnosed with a goiter, an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. She needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Niwarinda receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on November 29th at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. Now, she needs help to fund this $252 procedure. Niwandida says, “I think I will get better when I receive your support to undergo surgery because I have really passed through a lot of pain for all these years.”

Gladys is a Kenyan mother of seven. She and her husband are small-scale farmers and sell potatoes to provide for their children. Currently, their income is not enough to cover their medical bills. A few weeks ago, Gladys was involved in a road accident involving a motorcycle that resulted in a degloving wound on her left leg. Degloving injuries are injuries where the upper skin and tissue layers are torn from the lower muscle or bone. Last week, she successfully underwent a wound debridement procedure, and the wound is now clean. The surgeon has recommended a skin grafting procedure to be done while the wound is still in good condition. She is appealing for financial assistance to undergo the procedure, which is scheduled for February 9th. Gladys has accumulated a huge hospital bill that she and her family have been unable to pay. As a result, she needs help raising $1,089 to fund her skin grafting procedure, which will allow her to heal quickly and attend to her children Gladys says, ”My long stay in the hospital has really worried me. I don’t know how my children are doing and that has traumatized me. Kindly help me get treatment so that I may be able to go home.”

Evas is a 45-year-old farmer from Uganda and a mom to three children. Evas and her husband separated many years ago. She lives with her parents and practices farming to help care for them. Evas has been experiencing swelling in her abdomen for quite some time. She recently began experiencing severe pain that makes it impossible for her to do her daily activities, so she visited our medical partner’s hospital. The doctors diagnosed her condition as uterine fibroids and shared that she needs surgery to finally heal. On January 19th, Evas will undergo a hysterectomy, a procedure in which surgeons will remove her uterus. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), is requesting $219 to fund this procedure. Once recovered, Evas will be able to resume her daily activities free of pain. She shared: “I find it difficult to do my activities due to the condition. I will be very glad to have relief from this problem. I will resume farming after surgery.”

Ohn, who is 52 years old, lives with her husband in a village in Tak Province in Thailand. While Ohn's husband no longer works because of pain in his lower legs, Ohn earns money as a day laborer on a local farm. In the middle of 2021, Ohn began experiencing lower left abdominal pain, and discomfort when she urinates or has a bowel movement. She has been diagnosed with myoma, a uterine fibroid, and has been advised to have a total hysterectomy. Left untreated, Ohn's symptoms will worsen, and she will be at risk for additional medical complications. Ohn's income barely covers her and her husband's daily living expenses. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is seeking $1,500 to cover the cost of Ohn's procedure and care. Ohn is scheduled to undergo a hysterectomy on February 1st, at Mae Sot General Hospital, where both her uterus and cervix will be removed. After she has recovered, Ohn should be able to resume her life, free from pain. Ohn said: “I cannot sleep well because I am worried and feel depressed about my condition. When I learned that the organization [BCMF] would pay for the cost of my surgery, I felt very happy. I am very thankful to all donors and to BCMF for paying for my investigation and treatment. When I recover, I will try to work and save money, so I can pay back my debt."

Lydia is a mother of seven and a small-scale farmer from Uganda. Her husband is a supermarket attendant at Mega Supermarket, a big supermarket in Kampala, but has recently returned home to take care of his ailing wife. For nine years, Lydia has been experiencing abnormal vaginal discharge associated with lower abdominal pains. She has sought treatment several times without any improvement. She recently developed severe backaches and the abdominal pains have worsened, forcing her to stop farming completely. She has been diagnosed with chronic pelvic pain due to chronic pelvic inflammatory disease. She needs to undergo a hysterectomy, a procedure in which surgeons will remove her uterus. On February 6th, she will undergo gynecological surgery at our medical partner's care center. Once recovered, Lydia will be able to resume her daily activities free of pain. Lydia needs help raising $319 to fund her procedure. Lydia says, “I finally have hope of living a normal life once again through surgery. I believe that I will continue with farming comfortably after complete recovery.”

Phearun is a 32-year-old mom of two from Cambodia. She is divorced from her husband and has a 12-year-old son and a 3-year-old daughter. Phearun stays home to care for her children and the cooking and cleaning of their home. She lives in northwestern Cambodia and traveled over five hours to reach our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC). Five months ago, Phearun was injured in a motor vehicle collision that fractured and dislocated her right hip. She underwent emergency surgery at a local hospital, but her hip is still dislocated. As a result, she is experiencing acute pain and has to walk with a walker, as she is unable to put any weight on her right leg. Doing so can cause secondary injuries to the surrounding blood vessels, nerves, ligaments, and tissues in her hip. She needs to undergo surgery to prevent long-term damage from his dislocation. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), can help. On February 14th, Phearun will undergo a fracture repair procedure to relieve her pain and allow her to walk independently again. CSC is requesting $483 to fund this procedure. Phearun said: "After surgery, I hope I can walk again and take care of my children."

Mary is a grade two pupil from Kenya and the fifth child in her family. Her mother is a single parent raising six kids on her own while also taking in work washing clothes. A little while ago, Mary broke her dominant arm while playing with her classmates at school. She was rushed to a health facility nearby, where an x-ray revealed a right supracondylar fracture that needs surgical attention. Her right arm is currently in a sling and she is unable to use it or attend school. Mary's mother pooled her resources with close relatives to bring Mary to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare. On March 15th, surgeons with African Mission Healthcare will perform a fracture repair procedure, called an open reduction and internal fixation. This procedure will help to join the bone and enable Mary to use her arm again. Now, Mary and her family need $979 to fund this procedure. Mary’s mother said, “Mary is unable to go to school because of the fracture. She uses this hand that is broken and needs treatment.”

Lim is a 61-year-old rice farmer from Kampong Cham province in Cambodia. She is married and has one son and two grandchildren. Lim's husband is also a rice farmer, while their son works in food service for weddings. Five years ago, Lim developed a pterygium - a non-cancerous growth - in her left eye. This condition is most often caused by cell damage in the eye due to too much exposure to the sun and results in visual impairment and physical discomfort. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is seeking $225 to cover the total costs of Lim's treatment. On February 6th, doctors at Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre will remove the abnormal conjunctiva from Lim's eye and replace it with a graft, which should prevent a recurrence. Lim is looking forward to being able to see clearly again and is hopeful that you will support her in funding her procedure. Lim said: "I hope after surgery my eye will stop watering and I can work comfortably, and not worry all the time."