Marise is a 13-year-old student, living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, with her parents and four siblings. Marise has a cardiac condition called congenital aortic valve stenosis. As a result of this condition, one of the four valves in Marise's heart is much narrower than it should be, making her heart strain to push blood through the valve. This leaves Marise weak, and unable to participate in physical activities. The care she needs is not available in Haiti so Marise will fly to the Dominican Republic, where on February 9th, she will undergo surgery at Hospital CEDIMAT, during which her valve will be repaired. While another organization is helping to support the cost of Marise's surgery, our medical partner, International Cardiac Alliance, is seeking $1,500 to cover her care costs including pre and post operative medical care, and travel expenses for Marise's family, and the social worker who will accompany them for her surgery. Marise shared: "I am looking forward to being able to stop worrying about my heart after surgery."

Grace is a farmer and a mother of eight living children. She is married to John, a 60-year-old man from Kijweka Village. She has both parents as well as her husband and she is the 6th born in a family of 8 children. She shared that in her childhood, she did not attend school but her husband studied up to primary five. She does small-scale farming together with her husband to sustain their family. She carried sixteen pregnancies and delivered well but 8 of her children died when they were still young. Her children are doing well, and the last born is now ten years old. Grace has been diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia. She is having pain in her lower abdomen and back pain. She went to different hospitals and was given treatment but all in vain. This condition has caused her a lot of discomfort, and she no longer does her farming activities well. She finds it hard to be in public because of her condition. She needs to undergo a hysterectomy, a procedure in which surgeons will remove her uterus. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $253 to fund Grace's surgery. On February 2nd, she will undergo gynecological surgery at Rwibaale Health Center. Once completed, this procedure will hopefully alleviate her symptoms and she can live a fuller life once again. Grace shared: "I hope to get rid of pain and resume with farming.’’

Sokly lives in Battambang province with her husband, younger sister, and her two sons. Her husband works in a tire repair shop and Sokly is a teacher in a primary school. The two sons work in a local shop to help support the family. In her free time, Sokly likes trying new recipes and shopping with her sister in the local market. Sokly has been experiencing tinnitus and discomfort in her left ear for several weeks. Tinnitus is a noise or ringing in the ears, even though no external sound is present. She has been taking sick days and is having difficulty teaching due to this condition. Sokly traveled around five and a half hours from Battambang province with her younger sister to our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre, seeking treatment. During her examination, doctors found a small growth in her left ear. On April 1st, Sokly is scheduled for surgery to remove the growth and some of the bone in her ear canal to widen the channel from the outside of the ear to the eardrum. Sokly can contribute $100 for her surgery but needs an additional $726 to fund the cost of this procedure. Sokly said, "I hope I don't have to worry about this anymore and I can continue my work as a teacher."