Leakhena is a quiet 14-year-old girl from Cambodia. She and her twin brother live with their 65-year-old grandmother in Kampong Cham province. Her brother is learning to be a monk at a local temple, while Leakhena stays home to help their grandmother. At home, Leakhena likes to watch TV. According to her grandmother, Leakhena has had knee stiffness and difficulty walking since she was a toddler and is unable to fully straighten her right knee. When Leakhena's family learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, they traveled for three and a half hours to seek treatment. On February 15th, surgeons at CSC will perform a quadricepsplasty procedure of her right leg to help her walk better. Leakhena needs our help to fund this $482 procedure. She said: "I hope it will be easy to walk and I will not have any pain."

Aye is a 25-year-old woman from Thailand. She lives with her parents, grandfather, aunt, brother, sister and daughter. She and her sister are homemakers, while her father is a day labourer. Her brother works in a garment factory, and her mother and aunt are unemployed. Since Aye was 12 years old, she has experienced difficulty passing urine on and off. In October, this worsened and she now has blood in her urine and severe pain in her lower back. Doctors want Aye to 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 Aye's CT scan and care, scheduled for December 20th. Aye said, "I have been experiencing these symptoms for so many years but because of financial problems, I have never receive proper treatment."

76-year-old Smaoh Bernado is a married man from Mpando Village in Mozambique. He has seven children, all of whom are married and in their respective homes. He lives with his wife and grandchildren. In the past, Smaoh was a farmer who grew maize for consumption and commercial purposes to support his family; however, due to his old age, he now depends on his children for support. Smaoh has been using a catheter for the past year as a result of his inability to pass urine. He experiences pain while attempting to pass urine and much discomfort from the catheter. He has been going to a local health center for regular catheter changes until he opted to seek additional evaluation and treatment at our medical partner's care center Nkhoma Hospital. Smaoh was diagnosed with enlarged prostate, and was scheduled for open prostatectomy surgery. His family is unable to cover the complete expenses of the procedure. If left untreated, he may have recurrent urinary tract infections, and he may have to live with the catheter. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Smaoh receive treatment. On March 12th, surgeons at Nkhoma Hospital will perform open prostatectomy surgery which will relieve him of the pain. Now, Smaoh needs help to fund this $530 procedure. Smaoh says, “I look forward to returning home free from this condition.”