Ankunda is a student from Uganda. She has four siblings who are all still in school. As for her parents: her father is a property-owner collecting the little rent he gets from his tenants to support his family while her mother practices small scale farming to earn living. Ankunda was brought in with a painful swelling around the right wrist for one year. She reports it being painful and disfiguring as it disturbs her while writing thus making her write poorly and has affected her activities at home such as washing clothes. Ankunda traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On December 17th, surgeons will remove the mass. Now, Ankunda needs help to raise $187 to fund this procedure. Mother to Ankunda says, “I hope that my daughter becomes relieved of this condition and she continues with her education. I will continue to cultivate so as to support her studies.”

Hla is a 41-year-old woman from Burma. She lives with her family in a village in Kawkareik Township in Karen State. Hla is a homemaker, raises livestock, and looks after her niece while her sister teaches at a nursery school in the village. Her two younger sons and her brother-in-law are subsistence farmers who grow rice on rented land. Hla’s oldest son is a distance education student in university. One year ago, Hla felt a painless growth when she touched her lower abdomen. That same day, she went to see a traditional birth attendant (TBA) about this. The TBA told her that she had a gastric problem. The next day, Hla went to see a traditional healer receive blessed water in the hopes it would make the growth disappear. Although she drank the blessed water for around two months, the growth remained. As she did not think that the growth would make her seriously ill, she did not go to a clinic. In January 2020, Hla felt like the growth was increasing in size. She decided to visit Kawkareik Private Clinic where the doctor performed an ultrasound. She was told that she had a mass in her uterus. The doctor provided her with painkillers and she was told to only take it when she is in pain. Hla has been experiencing back pain and the mass increases in size day by day. She has been diagnosed with a uterine mass and has been advised to undergo a total abdominal hysterectomy, the surgical removal of her uterus and cervix. If left untreated, Hla's symptoms will continue to worsen and put her at risk for further health complications in the future. Fortunately, Hla is scheduled to undergo her hysterectomy on March 13th. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to cover the total cost of her procedure and care. Once recovered, she will no longer experience back pain and she will be able continue working and helping out at home. Hla said, "I'm very scared when I heard that I need to receive surgery. When I got home, my family and friends encouraged me to not be afraid because there were many other people who had the same condition who recovered and became healthy again."

Vanna is a 64-year-old government employee. He and his wife have six children together, all of whom are grown and started their own families. His wife was a rice farmer, but recently retired. He reads a lot of books, and has started to collect books to give to his grandchildren. He also enjoys watching news on TV. Vanna has had chronic back pain for over ten years. He has managed the pain with painkillers and light exercise, but recently it started to get worse. He experiences numbness in his legs, and has difficulty sitting and standing. He came to Children's Surgical Centre (CSC) on recommendation from a friend, and has been diagnosed with lumbar stenosis, a condition in which spinal nerves are pressured by the bone. Doctors will perform a laminectomy in order to relieve that pressure. This will allow him to walk easily with out pain. Now, CSC needs your help to fund this $1,027 procedure. Vanna shared, "I can't imagine life without back pain, so I am simply excited to feel what it will feel like when the surgery is done."