Byaruhanga is a 62-year-old farmer from Uganda. He is a married father to four daughters. They are all now married and are small scale farmers. He earns a living from his coffee and banana plantation and often grows green vegetables like cabbage and dodo to have an additional income. He operates the farm together with his wife and lives in a two-roomed semi-permanent house together with his wife and one grandson. Since one year ago, Byaruhanga has had an inguinal scrotal hernia and bilateral hydocele. He has pains whenever he is walking, when he stands for a long time and when he sits in a sitting up position for longer hours as well. Fortunately, on June 9th, he will undergo hernia repair surgery at our medical partner's care center. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $241 to fund Byaruhanga's surgery. Once completed, this procedure will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably and confidently. Byaruhanga said: “I will be able to resume with cultivation as soon as I recover from my surgery because this condition has given me a hard time!”

Ainomugisha is the ninth born in a family of ten children. She has five brothers, two of which are motorbike taxi drivers, two who are school cooks, and one who is a small-scale farmer. All of her four sisters are married and are also small-scale farmers. Ainomugisha is currently earning a living by weaving sweaters while her husband works at a prominent business man's farm. But her work has stopped because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She and her family share a room in her father in law’s house. Ainomugisha is currently expecting and her doctors shared that she needs to deliver via cesarean section, otherwise there may be complications like birth asphyxia, a ruptured uterus, or possibly maternal or fetal death. Fortunately our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, can help. They are requesting $252 to help fund the cost of her C-Section. Ainomugisha shared, “I expect to deliver a healthy baby and hope to resume with my work of weaving sweaters after the COVID-19 lockdown.”

Kemirembe is a 49-year-old mother of five and shared that her husband died in 1998. He left her with a grass thatched house, and through hard work, she managed to construct a three-room semi-permanent house to shelter her children. Her house though, was washed away by floods early last month due to constant rains in the country. She is currently struggling in putting up a temporally one because she wasn’t financially prepared for the disaster. Her firstborn is 30 years old and joined a technical institution immediately after completing primary school class seven, the second born is 27 years old and dropped out of school from secondary school class two, her third born is 25 years old and got married after primary school class seven. Her fourth is 23 years old and is in secondary school class four while her last born is 22 years and dropped out of school from primary school class seven. Most of her children are casual laborers and can only offer minimal support to her. At Rushoroza Hospital, she presented with a history of lower abdominal pain plus menorrhagia. If not treated through a total abdominal hysterectomy, she could have chronic pelvic pain that will stop her from doing her daily activities, severe anemia secondary to menorrhagia leading to possible heart failure. Kemirembe is a small-scale farmer who grows a variety of crops for survival. Her husband used to own and raise livestock such as cows and goats. He had many of them, she told us. Kemirembe managed to pay school fees for her children by selling the cows and goats and now is left with no animals. Kemirembe shared, “I had lost hope. May my prayers be answered. I look forward to putting more effort to farming in order to be able to take good care of myself in a few years when I grow older.”