Caroline is a 30 years old farmer from southwestern Uganda. She is a mother to one son and three daughters, who are all students.
She had an ambition of being a teacher but her parents couldn’t financially support her dream and she had to drop out of school in senior 3 grade. Currently, she farms on a small scale, growing food crops for her family and selling off the surplus produce to generate an income for her family. She also has two pigs, giving her a small additional income. Her husband is in the bodaboda (motorcycle taxi) business and they live in a double-roomed rental house.
Caroline was living with persistent lower abdominal pain, backache, on and off needles and pins radiating across her back and other worrying symptoms. She had never been to any hospital due to limited finances. However when the pain became unbearable, she went to Nyakibale Hospital where a scan revealed that she has a right ovarian mass. A curative laparotomy was recommended in order for her to have a complete recovery. The surgery costs $220 and she needs support to pay for it.
Caroline says, “my surgery will be like a dream come true because I have dreamt of the day I will wake up only to find that I no longer have this pain.”