Soeun is a 72-year-old proud grandmother. She is a widow and has five sons and three grandchildren. She used to be a rice farmer but has retired due to her age and poor vision. Soeun currently lives with her youngest son who is a staff in a local real estate company. At home, she likes to play with her grandchildren and listen to monks praying on the radio. One year ago, Soeun developed a cataract in her left eye, causing her tearing, light sensitivity, and blurry vision. She spends more time inside the house due to her poor vision, which is isolating for her. She has difficulty seeing things clearly, including colors and faces, and is worried about falling when walking, so is not able to go places on her own. When Soeun learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, she traveled for two and a half hours seeking treatment. On October 7th, doctors will perform a phacoemulsification cataract surgery, and place an intraocular lens implant in her left eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Now, she needs help to fund this $253 procedure. Soeun said, "I hope I can see well enough that I can help my children with cooking and housework, and take care of my grandchildren."

Treshass is a three-week-old baby. She is the only child in her family. Her parents are hardworking and already are learning to be exceptional parents. Her father depends on casual labor jobs, while her mother has established a small local business selling groceries. They live near the city and the current inflation and high standard of living makes it difficult for them to provide even basic needs for their family. They are worried if their child will live a full life because they are not in a position to fund her medical bill. Treshass has clubfoot of both legs. Clubfoot is a condition in which the foot is twisted out of shape. This causes difficulty walking and even wearing shoes. Fortunately, Treshass's family traveled to visit our medical partner's care center, Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on September 2nd. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $935 to fund Treshass's clubfoot repair. After treatment, she will be able to grow with her legs being straight and walking with ease. Treshass's father says, “When we heard of the work and treatment offered here, we decided to visit. We hope our baby will receive the required treatment."

Evangeline is a hardworking mother of two from the Philippines. She and her husband work as graphic artists; however, they were highly impacted by the pandemic, resulting in them being switched from full-time workers to part-time ones. This affected their ability to save up for Evangeline's needed treatment. In 2016, Evangeline began to experience troubling symptoms, including difficulty swallowing, shortness of breath, and difficulty sleeping. When she was finally able to seek medical care, an ultrasound showed a large mass located on her throat. She was diagnosed with colloid adenomatous goiter, a benign, noncancerous enlargement of thyroid tissue. She now needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from worsening. Fortunately, our medical partner, World Surgical Foundation Philippines (WSFP), is helping Evangeline receive treatment. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on July 16th at Our Lady of Peace Hospital. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. A portion of the cost of her treatment is being supported by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation, and WSFP is raising the remaining $890 to cover the cost of Evangeline's procedure and care. Evangeline shares, "Our income is just enough to provide for our basic needs. This free operation will be a big help to us. I've been praying that my pain will go away, and God answered my prayer through Watsi and World Surgical Foundation. Thank you so much for your help."

Loveness is a charming, friendly and smart girl who is currently in the 8th grade. She is a charismatic girl who makes friends easily. Loveness wishes to be a doctor in the future, and she is already working hard towards fulfilling her dreams. Her best subjects are mathematics, science, biology, and physics. She says English as a subject is giving her a hard time, but she is determined to keep improving. She enjoys drawing and painting in her spare time. Loveness lost her mother when she was just two years old. After her mother passed away, her aunt on her mother’s side decided to take Loveness and raise her as her own daughter because, she shared, the father had a hard time managing by himself. Loveness has clubfoot of her right foot. Clubfoot is a condition in which the foot is twisted out of shape. This causes difficulty walking and even wearing shoes. Fortunately, Loveness traveled to visit our medical partner's care center, Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on June 7th. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $935 to fund Loveness's clubfoot repair. After treatment, she will be able to walk easily. Loveness says, “I wish I could have my foot treated so that I can walk normally.”

Loy is a 46-year-old small scale farmer and a strong mother to her five children who range from the ages of 21 to 11 years old. Due to difficult finances and lack of resources, all of Loy's children have received a partial primary school education at various levels. Loy and her husband earn their income by farming, and their family lives together in a four-room mud house for shelter. Four months ago, Loy began experiencing severe lower abdominal pains that have caused her many sleepless nights. She believes that her uterus is very weak because she had a number of complicated deliveries when she gave birth to her children. She visited a doctor in March and was given temporary medication to help ease the pain and discomfort. Months later, she can now no longer sleep comfortably, and has had to completely stop farming due to the pain. Loy has been diagnosed with chronic pelvic inflammatory disease and needs to undergo a hysterectomy, the surgical removal of the uterus, in order to treat her condition. Fortunately, on May 13th, Loy will undergo gynecological surgery at our medical partner's care center, Rushoroza Hospital. Once recovered, Loy will be able to resume her daily activities free of pain and continue on with her farming in order to take care of her family. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $319 to help fund this surgery. Loy says, “I can no longer practice farming in my current condition and my family depends on farming. I hope to get well through surgery so that I may be able once again take better care of my family.”

Bariki is six-year-old boy and the only child of her single mother. He's a charming, friendly, and social kid. Bariki is now old enough to start school because most of his age mates joined class one this year. Bariki couldn’t join the school because he was born with a disability of the legs making walking for him impossible. He was born with a right clubfoot and the left had a congenital deformity of the knee. Currently he has to pull himself around to be able to move from one place to another. Bariki’s mother depends on small-scale farming to be able to feed her child. She lives and farms on her parents’ land. Last year through our medical partner's outreach program they got to know Bariki and the need for him to have treatment to help him have a chance to walk. He went through treatment of manipulation and casting to correct his clubfoot, and this was successful. He has been to an orthopedic clinic trying to see whether his knee joint could be corrected to help him straighten his leg and stand but his knee cannot be released. To help Bariki have a chance to walk with ease he needs amputation above the knee so that when he is healed, he can use a prosthetic leg that will help him walk. Bariki’s mother shared, “I will be so happy if my son can be treated and be able to stand and walk instead of him crawling.”

Ei is a 15-year-old girl from Thailand who enjoys reading books and playing soccer! She lives with her grandparents, her parents, and her two brothers. She and her younger brother are both students. Her father is a construction worker, her mother is a homemaker, and her grandparents are both retired. On August 11th, Ei broke her right lower leg while playing soccer with her friends at school. As she went to kick the ball, she unfortunately slipped on the wet, muddy ground. She is currently experiencing a lot of pain, cannot put any weight on her leg, and is unable to stand up. With the help of our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, Ei will undergo surgery to reset her fractured bones and ensure proper healing. The procedure is scheduled for August 11th and will cost $1,500. The goal of this treatment is to allow her leg to heal in the proper position and help her walk again. Her father says, "I want to say thank you so much to the donors for agreeing to support my daughter's treatment cost."

Kwan is a 17-year-old boy who enjoys watching TV and learning Mandarin online during his free time. Although he is originally from Burma, he lives with his parents, two brothers, and both of his grandmothers in a village in Thailand. They moved to Thailand about five years ago in search of safer living conditions. Both of Kwan’s grandmothers are retired, and his father is unable to work due to being ill. His mother and older brother support their family by working as day laborers. Kwan and his younger brother both attend a local migrant school, where Kwan is a 10th grade student. In September of 2017, Kwan broke his left forearm while playing basketball with his friends. He was referred to Burma Children Medical Fund (BCMF) for financial assistance accessing treatment, and he underwent surgery to insert a steel rod into his left forearm at their medical care center, Mae Sot Hospital (MSH). Following surgery, doctors told Kwan that the steel rod would need to be removed a year after surgery. However, he was not scheduled for an appointment to remove the rod, and he was not told why it needed to be removed. Initially, this did not seem like an issue since Kwan regained movement in his fingers, was able to move his arm more comfortably, and was able to help his mother with household chores. Since he was not in pain and his family did not have enough money to pay for the procedure, Kwan was not brought back to MSH to have the rod removed. However, he began working as an agricultural day laborer in 2020 when his studies were moved online due to the outbreak of COVID-19. He began to experience pain in the area where the rod was located when carrying anything even slightly heavy. Due to financial constraints and a fear of being arrested for traveling to the clinic without documentation because of an increase in main road checkpoints, Kwan kept his pain a secret. However, he eventually sought medical attention at MSH after the pain progressed. There, a doctor confirmed that his arm had healed well and the rod needed to be removed. Fortunately, our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund is helping Kwan receive treatment. On July 27th, doctors will perform rod removal surgery. This procedure will cost $1,500, and Kwan and his family need your support. He mentions that after he recovers from surgery, he wants to find work as a day laborer. He wants to help his family earn more money so his mother no longer has to do hard labor. His mother says, “I don’t know what to say, but in our heart, we are so thankful to the donors for helping Kwan with his first, as well as this second, surgery. We will never forget this help for the rest of our lives.”

Ya is a 40-year-old woman and a mother of four daughters. She works as a factory housekeeper, while her husband works in construction in the capital city Phnom Penh, which is three hours from their province. Their daughters are all in public school. When Ya is not caring for them, she likes to listen and sing along to music and spend time with her mother. Thirty-five years ago, Ya developed an ear infection that caused her left ear's tympanic membrane (or eardrum) to perforate. As a result, Ya experiences hearing loss, frequent ear infections, tinnitus, and severe pain. Ya shared that it's also difficult to communicate with others, which has been really hard on her self-esteem. Fortunately, our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), is helping Ya finally heal. On March 7th, she will undergo a myringoplasty procedure in her left ear, during which surgeons will close the perforation. CSC is requesting $464 to fund this procedure; this covers medications, supplies, and inpatient care. Ya is hopeful that her hearing will finally improve and she will be rid of the chronic infections because of her surgery.

Meshack is a six-year-old boy, living with his mother and one sibling, in a one-roomed grass thatched house in a village in Kenya. Recently, Meshack completed his preschool studies and now he is in grade one. According to his mother, Meshack is very helpful, and always assists her around the farm and in doing household chores. Meshack's mother is a single parent and a farmer, who works hard to provide for her family. Meshack was born with a condition known as hemiplegic CP, which means that one side of his body is weak. His right foot is affected, making walking challenging. Additionally, Meshack was born with clubfoot of his left foot, which adds to his difficulty walking, and limits his ability to wear shoes. Meshack has already undergone some preliminary, preparatory procedures on his left foot during mobile clinic visits near his village and the next step is for him to have clubfoot repair surgery at our medical partner's hospital. Meshack and his mother have now traveled to visit our medical partner's care center, AIC Cure International Hospital. There, surgeons will perform clubfoot repair surgery on May 27th. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $1,286 to fund Meshack's surgery, which will enable him to walk, to play with his friends, and to continue his education. “I would love to see my son walking like other children, and I will be relieved of the burden of carrying him to school,” Meshack's mother told us.

Hiek is a mother of five with two daughters, three sons, and five grandchildren. Hiek lives with her youngest daughter who is a garment worker. She enjoys listening to comedies and the news. Two years ago, Hiek developed a cataract in her right eye, causing her blurry vision, photophobia, and tearing. She has difficulty seeing things clearly, including colors and faces, and is worried about falling when walking, so is not able to go places on her own. When Hiek learned about our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre, she traveled there hoping for treatment. On February 23rd, doctors will perform a small incision cataract surgery and an intraocular lens implant in her right eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Now, she needs help to fund this $229 procedure. Hiek says, "I hope I can see well again after surgery so I can take care of my grandchildren and help more with my housework."

Marie is a strong 59-year-old woman from the Philippines. She used to work as a fish vendor, but unfortunately, she lost her job due to the pandemic. She has one daughter who works on a service crew. For about 10 years, Marie has fought breast cancer. Unfortunately, last February, she experienced back pain and noticed the recurrence of a mass in her left breast. She underwent an ultrasound, and her doctor recommended that she undergo a partial mastectomy, or a surgery to remove the cancerous part of her breast. Fortunately, our medical partner, World Surgical Foundation Philippines, is helping Marie to receive treatment. On April 8th, she will undergo a mastectomy at their care center. After she recovers, Marie will no longer have a mass in her breast and her pain will be healed. Now, she needs help to raise $1,294 to fund her procedure and care. Marie shared, "the surgery will not only help me physically, but my whole family as well. We will no longer worry about my medical expenses. Thank you so much World Surgical Foundation Philippines and Watsi for your help!"