Ly is a 21-year-old rice farmer from Cambodia. He lives with his parents and three siblings in Kampong Chhnang province. His parents are rice farmers, and Ly and his older sister farm to help support the family, including their younger siblings that are still in school. In his free time, Ly likes playing soccer and checking his social media. When he was one year old, Ly suffered burns on his left fingers from an open cooking fire at home. He was treated by a traditional healer in his village. Ly has developed burn scar contractures on all four fingers, tightening the skin around the burns. This experience makes him unable to use his hand easily and impacts his daily life and ability to work. When Ly learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), he traveled for two hours seeking treatment. On April 24th, surgeons at CSC will perform a burn contracture release surgery to improve the function and appearance of his hand. Ly and his family contributed $150 to his care and are requesting assistance to raise $345 to fund his surgery. Ly said, "After surgery, I hope I can use my hand more easily and get a better job."

Chisuka is a widow who lost her husband in February 2023. Chisuka has never had a child of her own but has been keeping three orphans aged 15, 10, and 6 years old for her late sister who passed on 5 years ago. Her husband had lost his first wife 30 years ago who left a 6-year-old son who has been brought up by Chisuka until now. He is a soldier who is married with one child. Chisuka and her late husband loved these orphans and brought them up like their own before death separated them. Chisuka shared that a month after losing her husband, she was chased out of her main house and most of her belongings were taken by her in-laws. Chisuka is now in the boys’ quarter together with her children while the main house is rented but the money is not shared with her. Her stepson withdrew his support after the death of his father. Chisuka started selling groundnut flour for a living. She likes praying and encouraging her children to work hard at school since life has changed for the worse. Chisuka was well until three years ago when she started experiencing cramping abdominal pains and felt a hard mass on the left side of her abdomen. Chisuka has been to different hospitals without much improvement. Of late Chisuka has had overwhelming abdominal pains, bleeding tendencies, loss of appetite leading to loss of weight, a lot of discomforts leading to more stress, weakness, and general body pain. On 24th January, Chisuka was booked and seen by the gynecologist at our medical partner's care center PIH who confirmed the diagnosis of multiple uterine fibroids through an ultrasound scan. She was notified about the need for a surgical intervention called total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) which is the removal of the uterus, including the cervix. Chisuka was then referred to the Watsi program due to her financial status. She is contributing what she can and needs help raising $1,363 to fund her surgery. Fibroids are abnormal growths that develop in a woman's uterus. Fibroids might become quite large leading to severe abdominal pain and heavy bleeding. If left untreated, fibroids continue to grow, both in size and number worsening the symptoms; the heavy bleeding may become worse causing anemia which may be fatal. After the surgery, it is expected that Chisuka will stop having unbearable abdominal pains and heavy bleeding and will continue taking care of her late sister’s children and living a more comfortable life. Chisuka, with tears in her eyes, said, “Please help me, I have faced more than I could, and now I need a breather and a comfortable life to let me render support to my children.”

Chrissie is a 50-year-old single mother and primary school teacher. She enjoys spending time with her three adult children who live with her. Chrissie has been experiencing abdominal pain, back pain, and other worrying symptoms. After an ultrasound, she was found to have uterine fibroids or abnormal growths that develop in the uterus. Her condition has affected her daily activities and her work as a teacher. Chrissie needs to undergo a total abdominal hysterectomy to address the pain, other symptoms, and future complications. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, will perform the surgery at Partners in Hope (PIH) Medical Center on March 2nd. They are requesting $1,363 for the treatment. After the surgery, it is expected that Chrissie will no longer be in pain, enabling her to perform her daily functions and go back to teaching. Chrissie said, “I am very happy to be seen at PIH and hope that the surgery will help me get better.”