Recheal is a 20-year-old from Kenya. She is studying in secondary school but has been unable to attend school for the last three months due to her condition. Recheal is the sixth born in a family of eleven children. Her parents are small-scale farmers, growing maize and beans for their family’s home use. Recheal does not have medical coverage, and her parents had to sell cattle and maize to raise Ksh 120,000.00 ($783) to cover her initial surgery costs. Recheal needs to undergo urgent surgery, and her family is requesting financial assistance. Recheal has been diagnosed with an abdominal bile leak that is causing her discomfort and pain. Her doctors have recommended surgery to ease the pain and enable her to resume her studies. She first experienced painful stomach swelling in August 2023. She visited a local health center and was treated for worms, which relieved her of pain for a while, but it recurred with time. She then visited our medical partner’s hospital for review. At the beginning of November, she received a CT scan that showed a liver cyst that required surgery. She underwent a laparotomy to remove the cyst on November 23rd. Four days later, the doctors identified a bile leakage that needed to be rectified. She is now scheduled for emergency surgery on November 28th to fix the fatal condition. African Mission Healthcare (AMH) is requesting $1,074 to fund this surgery. Recheal said, “I have missed school for three months now. This procedure will help ease stomach pain and enable me to return to school.”

Mary is ten years old and hails from Kayole in Nairobi County. She is the 3rd and last born in her family. She is in the fifth grade and she likes playing netball. Her mother says that she is very social when she is not in pain. Her mother works doing casual jobs washing clothes for her neighbors while her father stays at their rural home doing small-scale farming. For about three years now, Mary has been having recurrent tonsillitis accompanied by swelling of the tonsils, pain, fever, and chest congestion. Her condition has affected her studies since she misses school whenever she is sick, visiting different hospitals in search of treatment. Her mother decided to come and try Nazareth Hospital, where after a close follow-up, the ENT surgeon advised her to have a Tonsillectomy to solve the problem. Unfortunately, her parents are not in a position to raise the funds for this treatment, and they need support. If not treated, Mary will continue to experience adverse symptoms and may have complications like peritonsillar abscess and difficulty breathing. With surgery now scheduled for February 23rd, they are hopeful she will soon feel better. “I have gone up and down to different health facilities and her condition reoccurs. I ask for help and hope the operation will be successful so that she can have peace of mind and continue with her education. I will appreciate it,” said Mary’s mother.

Alfred, who is 69 years old, comes from a small village in Uganda. He had to leave school after only a few years of study, and now he and his wife work as small scale farmers. Alfred has been experiencing intermittent swelling in both his right and left inguinal areas for the past year. He went to different clinics, and was given pain medication, but the swelling has persisted. He shared his concerns with his son, who advised him to come to Rwibaale Health Center for an evaluation. As a result of the doctor's examination, Alfred was diagnosed with bilateral inguinal hernias. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is seeking $234 to fund Alfred's hernia repair surgery, which is scheduled to take place on February 15th, at Rwibaale Health Centre. After he has recovered from this procedure, Alfred should be able to resume his life, free from his current discomfort. Alfred said: "I hope to get back to my fields after recovery.’’