Christine is a small-scale farmer from Uganda. She is married and blessed with four children aged between 17 years and 1 year who are all in school except the last one. Her husband is a builder, and they live with her parents in a two-room mud house for shelter. They combine efforts to develop and support their family. Eleven years ago, Christine began to experience troubling symptoms, including a neck swelling associated with pain, difficulty in swallowing, and loss of voice. She is also unable to carry heavy items and experiences headaches. She visited Rushoroza Hospital for treatment. She was diagnosed with a goiter and surgery was recommended to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Christine receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on February 24th at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $333, and she and her family need help raising money. Christine says, ‘‘I believe and pray to have a successful surgery. I hope to continue with farming after my recovery to be able to support my husband and our family. May God bless you.’’

Hoy is a 64-year-old rice farmer from Cambodia. He shares his home in Kampong Thom province with his wife, daughter, son-in-law, and their 7-year-old grandson. As a united family, they oversee and cultivate rice, the proceeds of which are sold at the local market to acquire essential provisions. Hoy shares a special bond with his grandson as they find joy in evening walks together. In November 2023, he suffered an unfortunate motorbike accident, falling onto the concrete on his left side, fracturing his forearm. He could not afford care at the local clinic and visited a Khmer Traditional Healer for a bamboo splint. After one month, he was still in great pain, and after an X-ray, discovered that he still had a non-union fracture in his arm. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, can help. On February 2nd, Hoy will undergo a fracture repair procedure, which will cost $483. This procedure will align his fractured bone into place for optimal healing so that he can work again. Hoy said: "I hope that after my operation, I will have no more pain and my arm will heal."

Shinka is a 6-year-old boy from Kenya. He is the last born in a family of seven children. His father, who was the sole breadwinner of the family passed away in 2017 after a short illness. To provide for the family, the eldest son, who finished his high school studies last year, sells milk to earn some money. Sometimes the earnings are not much, and they have to rely on family members for financial support. The family does not have medical coverage and is not able to raise the money needed to pay for Shinka's surgery. In May of last year, Shinka started experiencing some difficulty when passing urine. At some point, he had stopped going to school for a few weeks. His mother shared Shinka's condition with his uncle who took him to a local health center for review. Shinka was examined and referred to our facility. When he came with his uncle for examination, doctors were able to diagnose his condition and also found a condition called cryptorchidism that first requires a bilateral orchidopexy surgery. If left untreated, Shinka has an increased risk of developing hernias, testicular cancer, and fertility problems in the future. Shinka will be receiving assistance from our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH). Fortunately, he is scheduled to undergo corrective surgery on January 11th. AMHF is requesting $646 to cover the total cost of his procedure and care. Shinka’s uncle says, “We are very much worried as a family about Shinka’s condition. His studies are affected, and we want him to go back to school as soon as possible.”