Thida is a 43-year-old tailor who resides in Tbong Kmoum province, approximately four hours away from the capital city of Phnom Penh, along with her husband and two daughters. Her husband works as a tailor, while her daughters pursue their education. To support their diet, she cultivates vegetables on their modest plot of land, providing nourishing food for her family. Twenty-eight years ago, Thida had an ear infection. This infection caused the ear drum in her right ear to perforate. For this reason, Thida still experiences frequent fevers, infections, ear discharge and hearing loss. Despite having undergone surgery in the past, she has had a persistent return of symptoms. These health issues affect her ability to work regularly, or communicate effectively with others, causing embarrassment when she struggles to comprehend her family or colleagues. Thida traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On January 2nd, she will undergo a myringoplasty procedure in her right ear. During this procedure, surgeons will close the perforation in her ear drum. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, is requesting $487 to fund this procedure. This covers medications, supplies, and inpatient care. Thida said: "I hope after surgery, I will stop having the ear infections and can have easy communication with others."

Shinka is a 6-year-old boy from Kenya. He is the last born in a family of seven children. His father, who was the sole breadwinner of the family passed away in 2017 after a short illness. To provide for the family, the eldest son, who finished his high school studies last year, sells milk to earn some money. Sometimes the earnings are not much, and they have to rely on family members for financial support. The family does not have medical coverage and is not able to raise the money needed to pay for Shinka's surgery. In May of last year, Shinka started experiencing some difficulty when passing urine. At some point, he had stopped going to school for a few weeks. His mother shared Shinka's condition with his uncle who took him to a local health center for review. Shinka was examined and referred to our facility. When he came with his uncle for examination, doctors were able to diagnose his condition and also found a condition called cryptorchidism that first requires a bilateral orchidopexy surgery. If left untreated, Shinka has an increased risk of developing hernias, testicular cancer, and fertility problems in the future. Shinka will be receiving assistance from our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH). Fortunately, he is scheduled to undergo corrective surgery on January 11th. AMHF is requesting $646 to cover the total cost of his procedure and care. Shinka’s uncle says, “We are very much worried as a family about Shinka’s condition. His studies are affected, and we want him to go back to school as soon as possible.”

Grace is a farmer and a mother of eight living children. She is married to John, a 60-year-old man from Kijweka Village. She has both parents as well as her husband and she is the 6th born in a family of 8 children. She shared that in her childhood, she did not attend school but her husband studied up to primary five. She does small-scale farming together with her husband to sustain their family. She carried sixteen pregnancies and delivered well but 8 of her children died when they were still young. Her children are doing well, and the last born is now ten years old. Grace has been diagnosed with endometrial hyperplasia. She is having pain in her lower abdomen and back pain. She went to different hospitals and was given treatment but all in vain. This condition has caused her a lot of discomfort, and she no longer does her farming activities well. She finds it hard to be in public because of her condition. She needs to undergo a hysterectomy, a procedure in which surgeons will remove her uterus. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $253 to fund Grace's surgery. On February 2nd, she will undergo gynecological surgery at Rwibaale Health Center. Once completed, this procedure will hopefully alleviate her symptoms and she can live a fuller life once again. Grace shared: "I hope to get rid of pain and resume with farming.’’