Su is a 12-year-old girl from Burma. She lives with her older brother and parents in Karen State, Burma. Su is a student who aspires to become a doctor in the future. Su’s father is a store night security guard and her mother sells watermelons. Four years ago, Su's skin started looking pale and yellowish. She also began experiencing abdominal swelling. Su was diagnosed with thalassemia, a blood disorder that affects the oxygen carried by red blood cells. Physicians at Mae Sot General Hospital determined that Su should undergo a splenectomy, a procedure that helps manage thalassemia. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund this procedure. The treatment is scheduled to take place at Mae Sot General Hospital on April 15th. Once completed, it will hopefully improve Su's quality of life. Su's mother said, "We are under stress that we are in debt as we have to travel and pay for Su's consultations. I hope that Su will get treatment and recover. I want her to become a doctor one day."

Mengse is a 15-year-old tailor, originally from Ratanakiri province in Cambodia. He and his family relocated to Phnom Penh in an effort to find better job opportunities. Mengse's father works as a cook for a company that caters weddings, while his mother sells vegetables in a local market. Mengse works as a tailor, but he is hopeful that he will be able to return to school. Mengse was born with a preauricular pit - a congenital condition where there is a sinus tract under the skin that shouldn't be there. It is manifested by a small hole located on his right ear. As often happens in these cases, this small hole has become infected, and a cyst has formed. As a result, Mengse experiences redness, swelling, pain, and discharge. Mengse traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On January 15th, surgeons from our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), will remove the mass at Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre. Now, Mengse needs your help to raise $273 to fund this procedure. Mengse shared: "I hope I can have surgery so I can't feel pain, and so I can do my work and feel better again."

Sotheara lives with her parents, two sisters, and one brother. Her parents are rice farmers, and she attends the local school with her siblings. Her favorite subject at school is Khmer and English language and she would like to be a nurse when she grows up. At home, she likes to play with her sister, exercise, and eat fried eggs and soup with rice. For the past several years, Sotheara's mom has noticed she occasionally has discharge from a small hole in the front of her left ear. Regularly she suffers from, pain, swelling, itching, headache, and fever, which prevents her from attending school. Her parents are unable to pay for medication from the pharmacy to provide temporary relief. ENT specialists at our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, have diagnosed her with a chronic pre-auricular pit sinus infection. This is a small hole or cyst just above the ear canal that some children are born with. The hole marks a sinus tract under the skin that’s in the wrong place. Most people don’t realize they have a sinus pit until they have an infection. On February 20th, Sotheara will have surgery to remove the sinus tract, and her parents need $297 to cover the cost of the procedure. After surgery, Sotheara will no longer have frequent infections or drainage from her left ear. Sotheara said, "I hope I will have no more pain, and the hole in my ear will be closed. I do not want to miss school."