Owoyesiga is a farmer from Uganda. She is a married mother to five children who are all in school, both in primary and secondary levels. She earns a living through small-scale farming were she mostly grows food crops like beans, maize, cassava, and potatoes for home consumption and at times sells off the supplies to earn an income. When Owoyesiga is in need of an urgent income like when her children are sent home for lacking school fees and when her family is in need of essential needs like paraffin, soap, and salt, she works as a casual laborer in other people’s farms to get money more quickly. She operates their small farm together with her husband. Almost five years ago, Owoyesiga began to experience troubling symptoms, including difficulty breathing and pain when swallowing. She was diagnosed with an abnormal enlargement of her thyroid gland and needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from getting worse. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is helping Owoyesiga receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on May 14th at our medical partner's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. This procedure will cost $264, and she and her family need help raising money. Owoyesiga says, “I hope that once I undergo surgery, I will be healed from my condition. I will live a healthy life and continue with cultivation to support my family.”

Rathana is a fourteen-year-old boy who enjoys studying math, and hopes to work in international technology when he grows up. He has one younger sister, and his favorite activities include reading books, exercising with his mother, spending time with his friends, and watching movies. Rathana was born with congenital scoliosis, and is unable to walk for long periods of time, has difficulty breathing, and cannot sleep well. For the past two months, Rathana has been in a halo gravity traction to assist in lengthening his spine prior to his surgery. Surgery will place a growing rod in his spine to straighten out Rathana's spine and achieve maximum correction of his spinal curvature. He will be able to walk, sleep, and breathe easily again. He looks forward to returning to his studies and reuniting with his friends. His mother shared, "I hope that my son's operation will go well and he will be able to do things independently again, and I will no longer have to worry about him and can return to my work."

Banywagabo is a farmer from Uganda. She is a widow who lost her husband 20 years ago, leaving her with four children. One son who is a carpenter and three daughters who are all married and small scale farmers. She earns a living from small scale farming where she grows food crops like beans, sorghum, and millet for home consumption and sells off the surplus to generate an income. Since two years ago, Banywagabo has been experiencing severe abnormal vaginal bleeding and pain. She has been diagnosed with a premalignant cervical lesion and needs to undergo a hysterectomy, a procedure in which surgeons will remove her uterus. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $230 to fund Banywagabo's surgery. On June 9th, she will undergo gynecological surgery at our medical partner's care center. Once recovered, Banywagabo will be able to resume her daily activities free of pain. Banywagabo says: “I am more optimistic to having a new life so that I can continue with cultivation after surgery and please send my sincere regards to this program's donors because am hopeful that they will help me overcome this problem.”