Susan is a 44-year-old small-scale farmer living in Malawi. Two years ago, she relocated from Mozambique with her children, to be closer to her relatives. She now lives with her sister in a small one-bedroom, grass-thatched house in Dedza district, where life is simple but often uncertain.
For three years, Susan has lived with pain in her right breast. At first, she endured it quietly, hoping it would pass. In March 2025, when the pain became unbearable, she made her first visit to the hospital. By then, a tumour had developed. After an initial procedure to remove part of it, the wound did not heal. Instead, it became a bleeding site. Blood often soaked through her clothes, forcing her to wrap herself in a shawl whenever she stepped outside. The physical pain was matched by the emotional weight of shame and fear. As months passed without proper treatment, Susan’s condition worsened.
On the 5th of December, she made the difficult decision to travel to our medical partner’s care center, Nkhoma Mission Hospital. There, doctors performed a biopsy. When the results came back, Susan was told she had breast cancer. The words were hard to accept. She thought of her children, their dependence on her, and the future she feared might be taken away. Despite the shock, Susan was encouraged that treatment was possible.
Doctors have recommended that she undergo a right modified radical mastectomy (MRM), a surgical procedure that removes the entire affected breast along with nearby lymph nodes to stop the cancer from spreading and to give her the best chance of recovery. Susan wants to live. She wants to be present for her children. But her reality is harsh. She is the sole provider for her household, with no steady income beyond her small farm. Her brother in Mozambique managed to send her one hundred thousand Kwacha to contribute toward her care, but it is far from enough. The remaining costs are beyond anything she can raise on her own.
Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Susan receive treatment. On January 7th, she will undergo an MRM procedure, to give her a chance to heal. Now, Susan needs help to fund this $567 procedure. She is still hopeful, not only for herself but for her children, who still need their mother.
She says: “I dream of a time when I will wake up without pain, return to my farm, and watch my children grow, knowing that their mother survived and is still here for them.”