Meet Aman, a smart, kind, five year old boy, who lives with his family in Ethiopia. Aman likes to help care for his siblings, and to play football. While his parents are farmers, his mother has been unable to work, of late, due to an issue with her eyes. Aman's mother shared that he developed visible changes to the shape of his abdomen, swelling, pain and bloating. Ultimately, he has been diagnosed with a mass on his abdominal wall. As a result of this mass, Aman experiences a variety of challenging symptoms, while his parents are emotionally distressed from watching their child suffer. With the assistance of our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, Aman is now scheduled for an abdominal resection - the removal of the mass - on January 5th, at BethanyKids Myungsung Christian Medical Centre. The cost of Aman's procedure and care is $1,500, and their family needs your help to fund this procedure to alleviate Aman's suffering. Aman's mother says: “I want him to recover from this disease and be healthy. After this treatment I wish for him to play like his friends. I hope he will get married one day, and I want to see my grandchildren in the future.”

Or is a 40-year-old woman from Cambodia. She and her husband have three sons, all of whom are in school studying. Or recently had to leave a better-paying job in Thailand to return home for medical treatment. She now works in a local factory, and her husband works as a farmer. At home, Or enjoys baking desserts and sells them to supplement the family's income. Since Or was very young, she has had an ear infection. This infection caused her left ear's tympanic membrane, or eardrum, to perforate. Medication has not helped relieve her symptoms. As a result of this condition, Or experiences pain and chronic tinnitus, a ringing in her ear that prevents her from hearing people when they speak to her. Fortunately, Or traveled to our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), to receive treatment. On December 15th, she will undergo a myringoplasty procedure in her left ear to close the perforation. CSC is requesting $487 to fund this procedure, which covers all medications, supplies, and inpatient care. Or's family was able to gather $100 to contribute to her care. Or said, "I heard about CSC from relatives and that I can get treatment for my ear. I hope my ears can be fixed so I feel better and can work again to support my family."

Dennis is the first born in a family of four children. When he finished high school, he was reluctant to join college because of his condition. He currently is not able to work because he gets easily tired and cannot carry heavy loads. He joined college just recently but has been out of school for the past two months. Now that he is at home, he helps his mother who picks tea for a living. He does not have a health insurance coverage and cannot raise the required amount of money to cater for his hospital bill. In 2019 while he was sitting for his national school exams, Dennis experienced sharp pain in his esophagus. He took a glass of water, and the pain went away for a few weeks. The pain used to occur roughly two times in a month and a glass of water would help a lot. Late last year, the pain worsened. He was not in a position to swallow food. He went to a herbalist and was given some medication to use for some time. When the dose was over, the pain was still persistent, and he still could not swallow food normally. He was then referred to Kijabe Hospital by a friend where he was examined and given some medication to use. He didn't feel better and decided to go back to the herbalist for different medication but there was no change. Later he finally returned to Kijabe Hospital and scans and tests revealed that he has Achalasia. He is scheduled for a heller's myotomy which is a curative laparotomy surgery for his condition. Now he needs $1,074 to pay for the surgery. Dennis says, "I feel very sad. If I was healthy, I would be able to work well and be comfortable with myself.”