34-year-old Beatrice lives with her husband and four children in Malawi. Beatrice uses the income from the saloon that she owns to take care of the needs of her children. Her husband, who is a businessman, uses his income to take care of their home, a three-bedroom house that has neither running water nor electricity. In 2020, some of Beatrice's friends noticed a swelling in her neck. Beatrice- who was pregnant at the time- went to the hospital to be evaluated. She was told that the swelling might be related to her pregnancy and that she should come back after giving birth if the swelling hadn't subsided. The swelling continued to grow; ultimately, Beatrice was diagnosed with a goiter- a swelling of the thyroid gland- and told that she would need to have her thyroid surgically removed. Beatrice's surgery continued to be postponed, but her symptoms of breathlessness and coughing- which often kept her from going to work- continued to worsen. Finally, her sister suggested that she visit Partners in Hope Medical Center, where doctors scheduled her for surgery on January 31st. As Beatrice is unable to cover the costs of her treatment, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is seeking $1,015 to fund Beatrice's thyroidectomy. Beatrice believes the removal of her thyroid will help her to return to her home in Blantyre, and to rejoin her family in good health. She believes her children are the reason why she lives, and she knows that she has to be healthy in order to continue supporting them. Beatrice said: “I am looking forward to getting back to normal.”

Gladys is a Kenyan mother of seven. She and her husband are small-scale farmers and sell potatoes to provide for their children. Currently, their income is not enough to cover their medical bills. A few weeks ago, Gladys was involved in a road accident involving a motorcycle that resulted in a degloving wound on her left leg. Degloving injuries are injuries where the upper skin and tissue layers are torn from the lower muscle or bone. Last week, she successfully underwent a wound debridement procedure, and the wound is now clean. The surgeon has recommended a skin grafting procedure to be done while the wound is still in good condition. She is appealing for financial assistance to undergo the procedure, which is scheduled for February 9th. Gladys has accumulated a huge hospital bill that she and her family have been unable to pay. As a result, she needs help raising $1,089 to fund her skin grafting procedure, which will allow her to heal quickly and attend to her children Gladys says, ”My long stay in the hospital has really worried me. I don’t know how my children are doing and that has traumatized me. Kindly help me get treatment so that I may be able to go home.”

Kanchana is a happy four-year-old. She lives with her parents in Kandal province; her mother is a teacher and her father is a chef in a local restaurant. She has just started to attend school and is excited to learn about Khmer subjects. At home, she likes to draw pictures, and have fried pork, soup, and milk for meals. Kanchana has strabismus in both eyes. Strabismus is a misalignment of the eye caused by injury or dysfunction in the associated nerves and muscles. Kanchana's eyes turn outward and it is difficult for her to focus. She often complains of headaches. If this condition is left untreated, her eye may face outwards continually, and she could lose her ability to see with both eyes. Kanchana will have much more difficulty with large amounts of reading and writing as she gets older. Kanchana traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On March 2nd, surgeons at our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), will perform a corrective procedure to align her eyes. Now, Kanchana needs help to raise $331 to fund this procedure. Kanchana's mother said: "I hope her eye looks like other kids after this surgery."