Allen is a small-scale farmer from Uganda. She completed primary school but was not able to continue because her parents were unable to support her education. She is separated from her husband and raising two children. Her firstborn is 14 years old and no longer in school, and her secondborn is 13 years old and is in primary school. She lives with her parents in a three-room mud house. Ten years ago, Allen began to experience troubling symptoms, including a small painless swelling on her neck which was rapidly increasing in size. She resorted to using herbs, but they did not help her at all. Currently, the mass has enlarged excessively and has caused difficulty in swallowing. She also experiences mild airway obstruction and on-and-off episodes of severe headaches. She was diagnosed with a goiter and needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Allen receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo thyroid surgery on February 3rd at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $333, and she and her family need help raising money. Allen says, ‘‘I pray to have a successful surgery. I hope to continue with farming after complete recovery to be able to support our family. May God bless you.’’

Chouch, a 52-year-old father of three, has one son and two daughters, hailing from Cambodia. He and his wife are both construction workers based near the northern border of Thailand. Their sons work in nearby rice paddies to help support the family, and their daughter recently got married and moved to a neighboring village. In his free time, Chouch enjoys listening to music and harvesting fruit. Five months ago, Chouch was in a motor vehicle accident that caused a fracture on his finger and a loss of mobility in his left upper arm. He was diagnosed with a brachial plexus injury, which is a sudden damage to nerve network that transmits signals from the spine to the shoulder, arm, and hand. Because of this condition, Chouch is experiencing paralysis on the left arm and has been unable to work. Chouch traveled to our medical partner's care facility, Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre, to receive treatment. On March 18th, he will undergo a brachial plexus repair surgery and upon recovery, he will be able to use his arm again. Chouch and his family are requesting $709 to fund this procedure. Chouch says, "I hope that I can one day move my arm again and go back to work to support my family."

Cristina lives with her mother, a food vendor; her father, a construction worker; and eight older brothers and sisters in a neighborhood of La Paz, Bolivia. As a small baby, she struggled to breathe normally, and so her mother took her to the children's hospital where she was diagnosed with ventricular septal defect, a hole between the two lower chambers of the heart. Cristina also has Down syndrome. During surgery, doctors will sew a patch over the hole so that blood can no longer leak through it. Christina needs your help to raise $1,500 to pay for her heart surgery. Her mother says, "Our family is so grateful to know that there is a way to fix our daughter's heart so that she can breathe normally."