Rose is a 62-year-old widow with two fully grown children. She lost her husband four years ago. Rose owns a small business where she sells sand and also performs garden maintenance for a small fee. Rose gets support from both children, who are married with children themselves now. She lives with her second-born child in a three-bedroom house without water and electricity. Rose likes doing house chores and enjoys eating nsima, a culinary tradition of Malawi, made from maize flour with vegetables. In 2014, Rose started experiencing pain when she swallowed. She visited the hospital near her home, where she was treated. The treatment worked for awhile until December of last year when her daughter noticed that Rose's neck was swollen on the right side. In March, Rose noticed that the swelling was getting larger and also causing consistent pain. Rose decided it was time to visit Kamuzu Central Hospital in Malawi where a scan revealed her mass had grown substantially and was stemming from the right thyroid lobe. Her doctor diagnosed her with a goiter and determined that surgery would be needed. Due to her financial challenges, Rose could not afford the surgery. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), can help. Rose met with a surgeon who confirmed her diagnosis and the need for surgical intervention called a thyroidectomy, which removes part or all of the thyroid gland. Rose believes the surgery will help her to get better and prevent her symptoms from impacting her day to day life, and allow her to focus on how good her life is. She was able to contribute $10 toward her care and is grateful to all to help her raise the $1,015 needed. Rose said, “Thank you donors for supporting me, I want to live my normal life.”

Emmy is a 36-year-old taxi driver. He is a father of 4 school-aged children. After completing high school, he had difficulty raising funds for college despite the desire to join university. He enrolled in a driving school and was later hired as a taxi driver. His wife is a farmer and their family of 6 lives in a 2 bedroom semi-permanent house. For 6 years, Emmy has had left inguinal hernia. The hernia causes him pain especially when he strains. Fortunately, on January 25th, he will undergo hernia repair surgery at our medical partner's care center. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $230 to fund Emmy's surgery. Once completed, this procedure will allow him to live more comfortably and confidently. Emmy says “I have been with this pain for quite a long time, I could have undergone surgery so long ago but I have always been let down by finances, I surely need and am grateful for your support for the success of my surgery.”

Kanha is a 21-year-old woman from Cambodia who lives with her family. She has three brothers and two sisters who also still live at home with their parents. Because of an unknown birth condition, she does not speak, so she has never attended school. She occasionally helps out her family by harvesting fruit from local orchards to earn extra income. On March 4th, Kanha fell from a mango tree while collecting fruit and injured her back. She experiences severe pain in her neck and back and is unable to walk. Her family took her to a local provincial hospital, but they could not pay for her care. Instead, the doctors recommended that the family drive four hours to the capital city of Phnom Penh for treatment. She has been diagnosed with a fractured spin and requires surgery. Fortunately, our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), is helping Kanha receive treatment. On March 10th, doctors at CSC will perform a spinal laminectomy with metal implants to stabilize her spinal column. A laminectomy enlarges the spinal canal to relieve pressure on the spinal cord. Now, Kanha and her family need help raising $1,500 to fund her procedure and care. The cost includes hospitalization, surgery, implants, physical therapy, and medications. After recovery, Kanha's pain should improve significantly, and she should have full mobility after four to eight weeks. Kanha's mother shared, "we hope after surgery, my daughter will no longer be in pain and will be able to walk."