Twijukye is a 35-year-old woman living in Uganda. A mother of three, she used to work in her garden and do other household chores to help support her husband and children.
According to our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), Twijukye began feeling pain around her neck twenty years ago. “After a year, a friend told Twijukye that she looked like she had goiter and she needed surgery for treatment,” explains AMHF. “However, Twijukye did not have the money to undergo the surgery.”
Thyroid goiters are often caused by iodine deficiency. Now, nineteen years later, Twijukye is experiencing palpitations; if her thyroid is not treated, it may advance to cancer.
$170 will fund a thyroidectomy, an operation where Twijukye’s thyroid gland will be removed. After surgery, she will recover fully and be free of pain and palpitations.
“After this surgery, I will be able to return to my gardens and dig so that I can provide food for my children,” Twijukye says.