Deziranta is a 51-year-old mother of seven children--four sons and three daughters. All of her children are studying at school with the eldest in senior school class five and the youngest in primary class five. Deziranta had to leave school at primary class seven because she lacked money for the school fees. She earns her income from farming, and her husband works in masonry. For six years, Deziranta has been experiencing lower abdominal pain, backache, severe bleeding, and headaches. She has been diagnosed with uterine myoma, also known as uterine fibroids or leiomyomas which are non-cancerous tumors that grow in the uterus. Deziranta needs to undergo a hysterectomy, a procedure in which surgeons will remove her uterus. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF), can help. AMHF is requesting $219 to fund Deziranta's surgery. On September 5th, she will undergo gynecological surgery at AMHF's care center. Once recovered, Deziranta will be able to resume her daily activities free of pain. Deziranta says, “The uterus is what has always been causing me all this pain. I hope that when it is removed, I will get well and will be able to continue with my activities around home in good health.”

Grace is a 25-year-old nurse from Malawi. She the second-born in a family of six children and the only school graduate to date. She graduated from nursing college in 2022 and is now proudly a registered nurse. Currently, she is unemployed, and all her younger siblings are in school. Grace's father is a builder who works in one of the government departments, and her mother is a homemaker. Grace started having pain in her neck back in 2013. In October, the pain increased, affecting both shoulders, and the swelling on her neck grew. On November 11th, Grace met the surgeon who confirmed the diagnosis of a goiter and the need for a surgical procedure called a thyroidectomy, which is the removal of part or all of the thyroid gland. Grace was referred to our medical partner's program due to financial instability. Grace believes that the surgery will help her get back to everyday life and that she can actively search for employment. Grace said, "I just want to get rid of the pain and tumor so that I can be active in job searching."

Keanin lives in Cambodia with his wife and two young children. As a family, they enjoy listening to music and playing various sports. Both he and his wife work on their land farming rice. Keanin mentioned he would also like to start growing vegetables, but does not have the space currently. When it is rice harvest season, they keep half of the rice for cooking, and they sell the other half to support the family. When there is not much to be done in the rice field, Keanin does short-term work where he collects wood and branches from the nearby area, puts them through a wood chipper, and sells the wood chips to a local company. Around four months ago, the lid of the wood chipping machine became loose and hit Keanin in the right knee, causing a major laceration. He was rushed to a nearby hospital to stop the bleeding. He was then advised to go four hours to Phnom Penh for surgery to repair a damaged artery. Unfortunately, the artery repair was unsuccessful, and Keanin needed an amputation of his leg. Last week, the doctor from a prosthetics and orthotics organization contacted him to come in to fit his new prosthetic leg. However, when he tried to put the prosthetic on, he felt sharp pain and was unable to wear it. The doctor referred him to Children's Surgical Centre (CSC) for a consultation and to see if our partner medical team could help. Keanin needs a stump revision procedure to modify the nerve causing him pain. This will ease his pain, and make it possible to wear his new leg. Our partner CSC is requesting $391 to fund the surgery. Keanin shared, "I hope I can not be in pain and wear the prosthetic leg and be more comfortable. Then I can go back to working to support my family."