Nita is a bright 3rd grader. Her mom works in a restaurant and her dad is a rice farmer. She loves playing with her older sister, and wants to be a teacher when she grows up. Nita has strabismus in both eyes. Strabismus is a misalignment of the eye caused by injury or dysfunction in the associated nerves and muscles. It is difficult for her to focus and she experiences frequent headaches Nita's family traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On March 2nd, surgeons at our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), will perform a corrective procedure to align her eyes. Now, Nita's family needs help to raise $331 to fund this procedure. Her mom said, "I hope my daughter has good vision so she can focus in school and play with the other children."

Juanita is a 75-year-old woman from Philippines. She manages a small business for a living, and she lives with her daughter who works as a house helper. In August 2022, Juanita began experiencing troubling symptoms, including shortness of breath, fatigue, excessive sweating, and sudden weight loss. She underwent a series of tests and was diagnosed with follicular thyroid carcinoma. This is the second most common cancer of the thyroid, characterized by an encapsulated tumor on the thyroid gland. She requires surgery to prevent her symptoms from worsening. Fortunately, our medical partner, World Surgical Foundation Philippines (WSFP), is helping Juanita receive treatment. On January 7th, she will undergo a thyroidectomy at WSFP's care center, where surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. A portion of the cost of her treatment is being supported by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation. Juanita needs help raising the remaining $935 to cover the full cost of her procedure and care. Juanita shared, "this surgery is a big relief to me and my family. Though our relatives are extending financial assistance, still it wasn't enough to pay for my treatment. We don't know where else to ask for help, so thank you WATSI and World Surgical Foundation Philippines!"

Mary is an eight-year-old girl. She is a talkative and playful young girl. She is the last born in a family of seven children and the family is not well off financially. Both of her parents do casual jobs like ploughing people's farms for a living and such jobs are not easy to find where they live. Sometimes the church members chip in to help them where they can. When Mary was one year old, she was involved in an accident where she sustained burns to her head, some parts of her face and neck. She was rushed to the hospital and was admitted for better care. While in the hospital, a surgery was done on her head where she had sustained more burns. She was then discharged and booked for wound dressing clinics. The wounds were healing well as per the doctors’ plan. Her parents managed to take her for the clinics for a few months but later stopped because of finances. While at home, the wound got infected but due to lack of funds, she was not taken to hospital at that time. Time went by and the infection spread to most parts of the head. When she was three years old, the family met up with a local pastor who started helping them. He started financing Mary’s hospital visits with the help of some church members where he ministered. The wound was dressed again but the recovery process was very slow. In mid this year, the pastor brought them to Kijabe Hospital, she was examined, and the wound was dressed properly. Since then, the wound has been healing as expected. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Mary receive treatment. On December 9th, surgeons will perform a debridement and skin graft procedure to help the remaining wound to heal properly. Now, Mary's family needs help to fund this $1,185 procedure. Mary’s father says, "Since the accident, we have been struggling a lot to make her get the required treatment but have failed to some extent. Coming to Kijabe, our hopes have been boosted greatly with the improvement she has experienced, and we hope that she will go through with the surgery and be well again.”