“Manuela is a hardworking mother of 13 children, three of which still live with her,” says our medical partner, Wuqu’ Kawoq (WK). The 58-year-old grandmother of 24 from Guatemala “lived for 35 years in a house made of sticks of sugarcane and a tin roof,” WK tells us. “Every year the strong winds would destroy her house and she would have to rebuild it.”
After years of saving, Manuela and her husband were eventually able to afford a concrete house, where they now live.
This past October, Manuela received a pap smear that detected suspicious cell growth. Watsi donors funded the biopsy she needed. “The biopsy revealed that she indeed had cancer and identified how we could proceed with treatment to remove the cells,” WK states.
For $605, Manuela will undergo a total abdominal hysterectomy–removing her uterus, cervix, and cancerous tissue simultaneously. WK states, “This treatment will save Manuela’s life. It will remove her uterus, where the cancerous cells are located and therefore prevent the cancer from spreading and lead to her to being cancer-free.”
With this operation, “Manuela will not have to undergo any sort of chemotherapy and she will be able to look forward to the rest of her life with her family and work.”
“I am so thankful that you are here,” Manuela shares. “My daughter has joined me today to give me courage, but really none of this would have been possible without you.”
