Ly Vay is a cheerful boy with a loving family. His parents are rice farmers and his 10-year-old sister helps take care of Ly Vay after school. According to his parents, his favorite activity is to play and splash in water by the river near their house. Ly Vay was born with contractures on four of his fingers on the left hand, where the muscles of his fingers are hardened. As he is getting older and exploring the world with his hands, he is unable to do many things because of the contractures. When Ly Vay and his family learned about our medical partner, Children’s Surgical Centre(CSC), they traveled for two and a half hours seeking treatment. On February 22nd, surgeons at CSC will perform a burn contracture release surgery so he can have improved hand function. Now, his family needs help funding this $487 procedure. His father hopes that Ly Vay's fingers can be straightened and that he can play, pick up toys, and do many more things with both hands.

Niwarinda is a 27-year-old mother to a preschooler. She completed college and was trained to be a grade 3 nursery school teacher, but her profession was removed from the Ugandan professions list. She tried to open her own small business, but, unfortunately, her husband--a boda boda driver (a motorcycle taxi driver for hire)--was in an accident and they lost everything. Thankfully, her husband recovered well and he is now back at work. Six months ago, Niwarinda began to experience troubling symptoms, including night sweats, hoarseness, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing. She was diagnosed with a goiter, an abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland. She needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Niwarinda receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on November 29th at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. Now, she needs help to fund this $252 procedure. Niwandida says, “I think I will get better when I receive your support to undergo surgery because I have really passed through a lot of pain for all these years.”

Jefferson is a three-month-old baby boy from Haiti. He lives with his parents and one older brother. Jefferson has been diagnosed with hydrocephalus, a condition in which excess cerebrospinal fluid accumulates in the brain, increasing intracranial pressure. As a result of his condition, the circumference of Jefferson's head has been increasing in size. Without treatment, Jefferson will experience severe physical and developmental delays. Our medical partner, Project Medishare, is requesting $897 to cover the cost of surgery at Hospital Bernard Mevs, which will treat Jefferson's hydrocephalus. This is the only site in the country where this care is currently available, and the procedure is scheduled to take place on February 14th. During surgery, excess fluid will be drained from Jefferson's brain, reducing the intracranial pressure, and greatly improving his quality of life. With proper treatment, Jefferson should develop into a strong and healthy young boy. The family is looking forward to Jefferson growing up happy and healthy.