Elizabeth is a 67-year-old woman from Tanzania. She is married and has five children. Elizabeth was employed as an accountant in the municipal sector of their region and she retired in 2008. After she retired, Elizabeth went into doing a little bit of farming, mostly getting help from casual laborers. She now relies on her pension and the little that she gets from selling a few organic chickens, vegetables, and green bananas.
Elizabeth started feeling pain on her knees eight years ago, but the pain has only been severe for the last three years. All that time she was in and out of hospitals, until when she had her first total knee replacement of the right knee done in May this year. The right knee is doing very well, but the left knee is a big problem for her now due to osteoarthritis. She walks with difficulty and she puts more weight on the right knee. She needs another surgery to help relieve the pain she feels on the left knee.
Elizabeth’s husband passed away in 2005, and she also lost two children and was left with three grandchildren to look after. She loves her grandchildren dearly. With three grandchildren who are depending on her for school and everything else, she has failed to come up with enough money to cover the cost of surgery which she badly needs.
For $960, Elizabeth will undergo knee replacement surgery at Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre.
“I want to be able to go to the market myself, sell a few things and look for other opportunities while there,” says Elizabeth.