Antonette is a 66-year-old widowed mother of four, and grandmother of eighteen from Kenya. For more than two decades, an epigastric hernia has slowly overshadowed ordinary comforts from her - eating freely, sleeping well, bending without fear, and working the farm to feed her family.
Antonette earns a living through farming, growing maize, beans, and vegetables and keeping chickens and one cow for milk. Her children depend mainly on casual work while supporting families of their own.
Antonette first noticed the swelling in her upper abdomen in 2002. It would appear and disappear, giving her hope that it might pass. It did not. By 2015, an ultrasound confirmed an epigastric hernia, a condition caused by caused by tissue pushing through weak abdominal muscles. She needs surgery to treat her condition. This is the deepest heartbreak that she has: knowing for years that treatment exists, but unable to afford it.
Fortunately, our medical partner, IcFEM Dreamland Mission Hospital, is helping Antonette receive treatment. On September 8th, she will undergo hernia repair surgery, which once completed, will hopefully allow her to live a healthier life. Now, Antonette needs help to fund this $696 procedure.
She says: “I really hope that God’s healing reaches me through the doctors. Healing is all I wish to experience.”
