Reasey is a 26-year-old rubber farmer. He lives at home with his parents and has five siblings: four brothers and one sister. He and his siblings support his elderly parents by working at a local rubber plantation in Kampong Cham province. In his free time, he enjoys playing football, watching TV, listening to the radio, and helping with housework. In September 2021, he was in a car accident with trauma to his left knee. His family took him to a local hospital for x-rays and he received a brace to support his knee. Because he could not afford any surgery, he visited a Khmer traditional healer for ongoing care. However, he continues to have pain in his knee and his kneecap is unstable. He takes medication to ease his symptoms, but he is still in pain, and cannot extend his knee or work on the rubber plantation anymore. When Reasey learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, he traveled for two hours seeking treatment. On November 21st, surgeons at CSC will perform a left knee fusion to create a stable, immobile joint in order to relieve his debilitating pain. Now, Reasey needs help to fund this $600 procedure. Reasey shared: "After surgery, I hope my knee will have no pain, I can walk better, and return to work to support my parents."

Vicky is a friendly 38-year-old mother to four boys aged between 2 and 12 years old. She lives in a three-room semi-permanent house with her family. Her husband is a small-scale maize farmer who works tirelessly to support his family. Vicky has a big anterior neck swelling that moves when swallowing. The swelling has been there for ten years now and has been gradually increasing in size, with pain that aggravates her when she lifts heavy things. Vicky states that she first developed goiter when she was a form two student. It was removed in 2007 in a Ugandan hospital, but reappeared three years later. Vicky began to experience troubling symptoms, including being unable to eat, drink, or sleep comfortably. She had an especially difficult time when she was expecting her children. Neighbors always help her with home chores as her children are still young and her health condition limits her physical capacity. Sometimes she has elevated blood pressure that causes angina. At our medical partner's hospital, she was diagnosed with Multinodular Thyroid Cyst. She needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Vicky receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on February 21st at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $936, and she and her family need help raising the funds. Vicky says, ”I am so stressed with what I am going through. I would love to work together with my husband in order to provide for our family, but my health status cannot allow me. Please help me because I am optimistic that I will get well someday and be able to help.”

Tola is a bright eleven-year-old student in grade five. He lives in Kampong Chhnang province with his family. He has a younger sister in grade one and a younger brother who is not yet in school. His parents are rice farmers. At home, he enjoys playing with his siblings and likes to eat any food his mother makes that has chicken! In school, Khmer is his favorite subject, and he would like to be a policeman when he grows up. When Tola was one year old, he had an infection and was given several intra-muscular injections in his right thigh. He subsequently developed muscle contractures that inhibit his ability to flex or straighten his right leg. If not properly managed, this can progress over time and further compromise his walking ability. When Tola and his family learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, they traveled for two hours seeking treatment. On January 20th, surgeons at CSC will perform a quadricepsplasty procedure on his right thigh. This will release the quadriceps muscle and improve the range of knee flexion. After he recovers, Tola will be able to walk and run alongside his friends. Tola and his family need help raising $482 to fund his procedure and care. His mother said: "After surgery, we hope that Tola can bend and straighten his knee like other children, and won't feel ashamed that he looks different."