Vacity is a 14-year-old girl from Kenya. She is the second of five children raised by a single mother. Vacity had been sick in school and was exhibiting symptoms such as fever, rapid heartbeat, increased appetite with weight loss, and fatigue. She was found to have too much thyroid hormone in her body due to nodules that developed on her thyroid. While medications have helped her condition, she needs surgery to prevent her symptoms from worsening. Her mother was recently in a motorbike accident, which is making it difficult for her to work and raise the money needed to fund Vacity's surgery. Our medical partner African Mission Healthcare Foundation (AMHF) is helping Vacity to receive the surgery she needs. She is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on February 22nd at AMHF's care center. Surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. Vacity and her family need help raising $936 to fully fund the procedure. Vacity shared, ”My family is needy. I would like to work hard in school so that I can be able to change our living style. Kindly help me so that I can be able to live a healthy life and be able to prosper in future.”

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.”

Saphas is a 10-year-old student from Uganda. He is a tall, brilliant, and smart young boy who lives with his grandmother. Saphas is in primary school class 3. At home, he likes helping with chores like cooking and fetching firewood. His dream is to be a nurse in the future. Since last month, Saphas has experienced a swelling on his private parts. He feels pain when passing urine and his grandmother is worried about the swelling. At Nyakibale hospital, he was diagnosed with a right hydrocele and requires a hydrocelectomy (hydrocele repair surgery). Fortunately, on March 7th, he will undergo a hydrocelectomy at our medical partner's care center. Our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare Foundation, is requesting $146 to fund Saphas's surgery. Once completed, this procedure will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably and confidently. Saphas' guardian says “He is the only one we have to take care of us at home, his poor health worries me but with your support, I will be happy to see him well again.”