Khun is a 68-year-old retired government officer and is married with two daughters and four sons. His wife is a mobile food seller. Khun enjoys taking his wife to the market to buy vegetables and cook. He also enjoys watching Khmer boxing on the TV and listening to monks preaching on the radio. Most of the time, he feels okay, with the exception of his poor vision. Two years ago, Khun developed a cataract in his right eye, causing him difficulty seeing at night or in bright lights. He also experiences blurred vision and itchiness, and has difficulty recognizing faces and going anywhere outside. When Khun learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, he traveled for two and a half hours with his wife seeking treatment. On February 3rd, doctors will perform a phacoemulsification cataract surgery and place an intraocular lens implant in his right eye. After recovery, he will be able to see clearly. Now, he needs help to fund this $229 procedure. Khun shared, "I hope after surgery I can return to my daily life activities, like taking my wife to the market and helping her around the house."

Yan is a 60-year-old grandmother who is married with two sons, six daughters, and many grandchildren. Yan worked on a rice plantation for many years, but now she does not work due to her vision. She stays at home and looks after her grandchildren. Yan enjoys listening to the monks preach on the radio. Six years ago, Yan developed a pterygium in her left eye, causing her tearing, irritation, and blurry vision. She has difficulty seeing things clearly, recognizing faces, working, and going anywhere outside. Pterygiums are non-cancerous growths of the conjunctiva, a mucous layer that lubricates the eye. The growths occur when the conjunctiva is exposed to excessive sun damage and the cells grow abnormally over the pupil. When Yan learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, she traveled across the country for seven hours seeking treatment. Yan needs a surgical procedure to remove the abnormal conjunctiva from the cornea surface and replace it with a conjunctival graft to prevent recurrence. The total cost of her procedure is $216. This covers medications, supplies, and inpatient care for two days. The procedure is scheduled for February 15th. Yan shared, "after surgery I hope my eye gets better so I can go to the rice field and help my husband."

Naw Kwee Moo is a 54-year-old woman from the Karen region in Burma, who lives with her husband and their family in a refugee camp. Of her children, three daughters and three sons still live in the refugee camp along with them near the Thai-Burma border. Naw Kwee is a homemaker and her husband is currently too ill to work. Five of their children go to school in the camp, four other children have moved away, and her second oldest son graduated from a post-secondary program in May 2020. He worked as an agricultural day laborer at a nearby Thai village until mid-December 2020. Due to Covid-19 travel restrictions, he was no longer allowed to leave the camp. Naw Kwe’s household receives a monthly cash card to purchase basic rations. Although they receive free education and basic health care in the camp, they shared how hard it is to make ends meet. Starting four years ago, Naw Kwee often went to the camp’s hospital run by Malteser International (MI) Thailand to receive treatment for urinary tract infections (UTI). Most of the time, she would feel better after taking medication, but she was no longer able to work as an agricultural day laborer because of her pain. Over the next few years, she was diagnosed with chronic UTI. “I think my condition was caused from consuming dirty water,” she said. “When I worked as a day laborer, we had no access to clean water.” Naw Kwee received antibiotics through an intravenous (IV) line at the camp’s hospital. When her condition did not improve, a doctor at the camp’s hospital referred her again to Mae Sariang Hospital in March 2020. There she received a urine test and an x-ray of her kidneys, ureters and bladder. She was finally diagnosed with a right kidney stone. After multiple visits, the doctor at Mae Sariang Hospital referred her to Chiang Mai Hospital (CMH) for further treatment. However, Naw Kwee could not travel to CMH for a while due to travel restrictions after the outbreak of Covid-19. Finally, last June medical staff from her camp were able to bring Naw Kwee to Chiang Mai. During her appointment, the doctor scheduled her to undergo an intravenous pyelogram on July 16th, 2020. After she received a diagnostic test, she returned to CMH for her follow-up appointment on November 19th, 2020. During her appointment, she received more tests and it was at her next appointment Naw Kwee was told she needed to undergo multiple rounds of laser treatment to break up the stone in her kidney. She received her first round of laser treatment on February 11th, 2021. Two days later, she developed a fever and could only pass a bit of urine. She also started to experience severe back pain and other troubling symptoms. MI staff took her back to the hospital where she received an ultrasound. The nurse shared with her that after her laser treatment, the stones had broken up and many of them where now stuck in her ureter, creating a blockage. She now needs emergency surgery to remove the stones. Our Medical Partner Burma Children Medical Fund is seeking $1,500 to support her surgery and finally relieve her of her painful condition.