23-year-old Josephine and her two siblings live with their mother in Kenya and participate in small-scale farming for home consumption. Josephine has no source of income but is hoping to pursue a course in hairdressing. On April 16th, 2022, while planting corn on their farm, Josephine slipped and plunged into a hole she hadn't seen. She sustained a fracture in her right leg and surgery was performed to stabilize the bone and help the fracture heal. Two months after the surgery, Josephine started noticing pus accumulating in the affected area. She returned to the hospital and was treated, but her condition did not improve. In October 2022, doctors noted that the hardware that had been placed in Josephine's leg to stabilize the bone had actually caused an infection. Despite the removal of the hardware, the infection has persisted. Josephine has a large mid-diaphyseal sequestrum. This means that her femur bone is infected. As a result, she is unable to use her right leg to walk. If left untreated, the infection can spread, and potentially result in an amputation. With the assistance of our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, Josephine has been scheduled for a Right Femur Sequestrectomy and Exfix to clear the infection and strengthen the bone, allowing it to heal completely. The surgery, which will take place at AIC Kijabe Hospital on April 17th, will enable Josephine to walk easily again so that she can farm and pursue the course in hairdressing. She and her family need your help to raise the $1,500 to fund her treatment. Josephine says, “I want to go to college and do a course in hairdressing. I am unable to pursue this dream since I have a broken bone that needs to be attended to.”

Hser is a 30-year-old midwife from Burma. She lives with her husband and eight other colleagues in the staff housing of the clinic she works at. Hser is a midwife, and her husband is a medic. In her free time, she enjoys going fishing with her husband and friends, weaving Karen clothes, and visiting the villagers nearby. Around June 2020, Hser felt she had a mass. Thinking it was not serious, she did not go to a hospital for treatment until April 2022. At the hospital, a doctor gave her medication for three months, but the mass did not decrease in size. Currently, Hser's experiences uncomfortable symptoms from the mass. Hser sought treatment through our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund. She is now scheduled to undergo mass removal surgery on March 8th. Hser needs help raising $1,500 to cover the total cost of her procedure and care. Hser said, "I am married, but I don’t plan to have children yet because my husband and I are both busy working as health workers for our community. So, I am very worried that I won't be able to have children anymore because of my condition. However, I have a loving and kind husband who understands me in every way, and he told me not to worry and feel sad. We cannot help but stay strong, helping and encouraging each other."

Kimhak is a four-year-old preschooler living with his parents in a rural village in Kampong Speu province in Cambodia. Both his mother and father work as rice farmers. Kimhak was born with a small mass called a thyroglossal cyst. This type of fibrous cyst results when cells and tissues are left over after the formation of the thyroid gland while the fetus is still developing. It often goes unnoticed for years and is asymptomatic. However, Kimhak's mass has grown in size, causing him discomfort. If the cyst is left untreated, it could become infected or rupture. Kimhak and his parents traveled to our medical partner's care center for treatment. On April 26th, surgeons at Kien Khleang National Rehabilitation Centre will remove the mass. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is seeking your help to raise $273 to fund this procedure. After surgery, Kimhak's family hopes that he will feel better and that he will return to school.