Kyomuhendo is a 26-year-old man from Uganda who is married with two children. His oldest child is six years old and in school, while the youngest is seven months old. He and his family live in a rental house; they haven’t yet built their own.
Kyomuhendo works as a casual laborer picking tea leaves at a tea plantation. He uses the money he earns to pay rent, buy food, and fund his child’s education. While he enjoys farming, he is unhappy at the moment because he cannot attend to his fields due to illness.
About a year ago Kyomuhendo developed a painful swelling in his left inguinal area, or lower abdomen. He visited a hospital where he was diagnosed with a hernia– a protrusion of intestinal tissue through a weakened area in the abdominal wall. At the time of his diagnosis, Kyomuhendo was advised to have surgery, but he couldn’t afford to pay for it.
Due to the pain from his hernia, Kyomuhendo is unable to lift heavy items or dig. This prevents him from doing his work in the fields. If he doesn’t receive treatment, he faces the potentially serious risk of many complications.
For $249, Kyomuhendo can receive the attention he needs through Watsi’s medical partner in Uganda, African Mission Healthcare Foundation. Doctors will perform a hernia repair surgery, returning the intestinal tissue to the abdominal cavity and mending the weakness in the abdominal wall. The surgery will ease Kyomuhendo’s pain, eliminate his intestinal strangulation risk, and allow him to return to providing for his family.
“I am hoping to resume digging after I receive treatment,” says Kyomuhendo. Let’s help him afford this important operation.
