Deodanta is a 77-year-old mother from Uganda. She has nine children, but has sadly lost two. In 2013, she also sadly lost her husband. She lives in a four-room mud house, and her children range in age from 32 to 51 years old. Deodanta practices small-scale farming for a living. When she was about 20 years old, Deodanta began to experience troubling symptoms, including pain in her neck. When she gave birth, she developed a small painless swelling in her neck. Over time, her condition worsened, as the swelling grew in size and became painful. Now, most of the time, she experiences headaches and she can no longer hear properly. She also gets fatigued easily and has difficulty breathing when sleeping. She has had to stop farming due to her condition. Deodanta has been diagnosed with a non-toxic multinodular goiter, and requires surgery to prevent her symptoms from worsening. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), is helping Deodanta receive treatment. On January 6th, she will undergo a thyroidectomy at AMH's care center, where surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. Now, she and her family need help raising $333 to fund her procedure and care. Deodanta shared, “I hope and pray that I may get well through surgery so that I may be able to take care of myself. I hope to be able to supervise my crop fields after complete recovery.”

Medius is a 54-year-old woman from Uganda. She and her husband practice small-scale farming for their family's consumption and sell the surplus harvest for income. They have six children, all of whom are in school. Medius shared that she studied up to primary five before having to leave school due to the school fees. Ten years ago, Medius began to experience troubling symptoms, including swelling on her neck, difficulty breathing, persistent headaches, and constant fatigue. She was diagnosed with nontoxic goiter and needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from worsening. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), is helping Medius receive treatment. On February 28th, she will undergo a thyroidectomy, during which surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. AMH is requesting $252 to fund Medius's procedure. Medius said: "I believe when I am given your support, my surgery will be possible, and I will be able to get well soon."

Daw Nan is a 64-year-old woman from Myanmar. She lives with her husband in a village in Karen State. Her husband is retired and she occasionally works as an agricultural day laborer. She also grows cashews in her garden and sells what she harvests once a year. Sometimes, her daughter, who works in Thailand, sends her pocket money. In her free time, she likes to go to the temple and meditate. Currently, she can only perceive light with her right eye and the vision in her left eye is starting to blur. She cannot see people's faces with her right eye, and her left eye is sensitive to light. Because of her poor vision, she can only walk slowly because she is worried that she will trip and fall. She also feels stressed about her vision problem, and she has lost weight and has little appetite. Our medical partner, Burma Children Medical Fund, is requesting $1,500 to fund lens replacement surgery for Daw Nan. On February 10th, doctors will perform a lens replacement, during which they will remove Daw Nan's natural lenses and replace them with an intraocular lens implant in each eye. After recovery, she will be able to see clearly. Now, she needs help to fund this $1,500 procedure. Daw Nan said, "Since the vision in my right eye worsened and I noticed that the vision in my left eye is worsening, I feel stressed at all times. I cannot work properly as my [left] eye hurts and waters when it is bright outside. I feel sad. Even though I eat, I have a poor appetite and I have lost weight. I will be very happy if I can see again after my surgery."