55-year-old Wanja is a working single mother of two living in Kenya. “I am working hard so that I can eventually have my own land and build a house that my children can call their home,” says Wanja, who works as a casual laborer at a local university.
Wanja has a painful lump in her breast and was recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Wanja needs surgery and potentially chemotherapy to treat her condition. However, she can’t afford the cost with one child still in high school and the other finishing college.
“If the surgery is not done, the cancer is likely to spread to Wanja’s vital organs which will lead to death,” medical partner Africa Mission Healthcare Foundation explains.
Her doctors are confident in Wanja’s recovery though, saying “we expect that after the surgery and perhaps a few sessions of chemotherapy, Wanja will be cancer free and she can continue working hard so that she can one day own her own home.”