Katusiime is a 40-year-old woman living in Uganda with her husband and four children. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), shares, “Apart from the little subsistence farming that Katusiime does, she is mainly a house-wife who stays at home and looks after her four children.” Her husband, the family’s primary financial earner, is a teacher, whose salary is used to pay the school fees for their children.
Since 2010 Katusiime has had a thyroid goiter, a condition where the thyroid gland is enlarged. “Katusiime went to a government hospital where surgery was recommended but she could not afford to pay for it,” AMHF explains. “Her condition worsened this year after Katusiime started having difficulties swallowing food.”
“Katusiime experiences pain while sleeping and can no longer carry heavy things, like produce, from the farm,” AMHF continues. “She gets fevers and feels cold all the time. All these symptoms have left Katusiime very helpless because she can no longer work as well as before.”
$170 will cover the cost of Katusiime’s thyroidectomy surgery, which will remove her thyroid and alleviate her pain. This will allow her to recover fully and continue working in her garden and taking care of her family. AMHF reports that, “If not treated, Katusiime may experience respiratory embarrassment and have an increasingly difficult time eating.”
“I hope to be free from the pain and work harder,” shares Katusiime.
