A cheerful grandmother from Kenya, Susan is blessed with eight children. One of her sons died while he was still young, and the others got married moved away. She is a widow, and lives with her grandson who goes to a nearby primary school. Susana's children, like her, did not go beyond the primary level of their education. She lives in a semi-arid area of the county where they plant millet and sorghum as their main socio-economic activity. The area is affected by insecurity issues and bandits have affected their way of doing things. She took a long time to come to seek medical attention since her home area was not safe at that time. Susana recently fell while carrying firewood and sustained an injury to her left humerus. Susana came into the hospital with her arm splinted in the company of her daughter hoping to find the help she needs to return her normal life. Susana had an X-ray that showed that she had a fracture of the proximal humerus. The splint was removed during the examination, as she had developed a cast sore that got infected. It was thoroughly cleaned and dressed, and she was discharged home with antibiotics. Currently, Susana cannot lift or move her hand due to pain. The fracture is more than a month old and so she needs a complex procedure in order to align her broken bone, allowing her to heal quickly. Her economic status is challenging and she cannot afford to pay for her procedure. She is appealing for help from all well-wishers reading her story. Fortunately, surgeons at our medical partner can help. On February 21st, Susana will undergo a fracture repair procedure, called an open reduction and internal fixation. The treatment will help Susana to do activities by herself. Now, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $1,145 to fund this procedure. Susana says, "It’s really hard to depend on people in activities such as bathing. I am so disturbed when I see my children leave their houses for my sake. Kindly help me so that I may be able to depend on myself and for them to be able to work and provide for their families.”

Negash, who is five years old, is the youngest of the six children in his family. Their family lives in rural Ethiopia, where his parents are farmers who grow wheat and barley. Additionally, they work as daily laborers on government construction projects to earn extra money to support their family. A few years ago, Negash's parents learned that he had been born with hypospadias, a congenital condition that causes urinary dysfunction. The doctors at the hospital in Sekota told the family that Negash would need to return for treatment when he turned four years old. As the hospital in Sekota could not perform the procedure required to address Negash's condition, a social worker accompanied the family to Addis Ababa, helping to cover all of their travel costs. However, the family needs money to pay for the surgery that Negash must have in order to prevent him from higher risk of cancer and infertility, and other worrying symptoms in the future. Fortunately, Negash is now scheduled to undergo corrective surgery on March 30th at BethanyKids Myungsung Christian Medical Centre. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare, is requesting $1,293 to cover the total cost of his procedure and care. Negash's father said: “I want my son to be completely well. I hope he will be well educated and become a president.”

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.”