Bridget is a 25-year-old small-scale farmer from Uganda. She is married with two children. Her husband runs a retail shop around their village. Their oldest child is four and in the top junior class, and their youngest is almost two years old. For a year, Bridget has had a supra-umbilical hernia that causes her to experience intermittent swelling. Her condition is deteriorating, and without treatment, she worries it will lead to gut obstruction or intestinal perforation. The doctors recommend she undergo hernia repair surgery, and Bridget is scheduled to undergo treatment on April 8th. Once completed, this procedure will allow her to live more comfortably and confidently. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $170 to fund this procedure. Bridget says, “After treatment, I will thank God and will live an improved quality of life.”

Edwin is an outspoken and confident 38-year-old from Uganda. Edwin loved school when she was young, but she was unable to proceed further with her education because her parents couldn't afford to raise money for her to attend college. Since then, she has been engaged in farming for a living. However, due to limited land, she primarily grows crops to feed her family and sells the surplus to generate income. Her husband works as a farmer and often engages in casual labor in other people's gardens to earn an income. During her free time, she enjoys taking care of her family, performing domestic chores such as cooking, washing, and maintaining the household. Edwin has a poor obstetric history. She has been pregnant seven times, but she reports having experienced five miscarriages due to an unknown cause. Because of the stress from these miscarriages, she has developed hypertension in pregnancy, for which she has been on medication since her first trimester. She is currently expecting her second child. Her doctors recommend that she deliver via a caesarean section because of gestational hypertension and the significance of her previous obstetric challenges. This way, doctors can better ensure the safety of both mother and child. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is helping Edwin undergo a ceasarean section on December 12th. This procedure will cost $252, and Edwin needs your support. Edwin says, “I pray that am given your support for then I can have a live baby and a successful delivery.”

Savoeun resides in Kampong Cham province with her two children, a son and a daughter, who help her with the farm and household chores. As a widow, she has been the sole provider for her family since her husband's passing several years ago. Together, they work long hours in the fields to cultivate enough rice to feed themselves and for sale at the market for additional necessities. In the evening, Savoeun likes to keep her house clean or listen to the radio. On December 20th, Savoeun slipped in the bathroom, and immediately felt great pain, but could not afford to visit a clinic. She endured weeks of persistent pain and navigated life from a wheelchair, when a villager suggested she should visit our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, for a consultation. She and her daughter traveled for six and a half hours where surgeons diagnosed her with a fracture of the neck of her left femur. Femoral neck fractures are among the most common fractures in the elderly population, with a high mortality risk. Her doctors have planned a hip reconstruction procedure, where the femoral head and neck are replaced with a reconstruction prosthesis called a hip hemiarthroplasty. Now Savoeun and her family need help with the cost of the $544 procedure. The surgery will repair her fracture and allow her to walk again. Savoeun's daughter shared: "We hope my mother can walk again and be without pain after her surgery."