Thanun is a fourth grader from Cambodia. His favorite subject is history, and he likes to play soccer with his friends after school. While Thanun and his younger sister are in school, his parents practice farming in the rice fields close to their home to earn a living for their family. Since Thanun was a year old, he has had a mass near his upper lip. In the last year, the mass has grown in size, causing him discomfort, especially when talking and eating, as well as occasional bleeding. Thanun's family traveled to our medical partner's care center to receive treatment. On September 5th, surgeons will remove the mass. Our medical partner, Children's Surgical Centre (CSC), is requesting $273 to fund this procedure. Thanun's family contributed $100 to his care. When asked about their hopes for the surgery, Thanun mom shared that she hopes he can feel more comfortable and be able to focus at school.

Sarah is a 47-year-old woman from Kenya. She is married and has seven children. Three of her children have finished school, two are in secondary school, and two are in primary school. Sarah's husband is a farmer who plants and sells maize to support his family. In the past, they had livestock as well, but they sold all of them to raise school fees for their children. About two years ago, Sarah started to experience neck pain, neck swelling, and fatigue affecting her ability to work. She visited a nearby health facility where she received pain medication, but her symptoms persisted. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), was hosting a clinic in Sarah's town. Sarah visited the clinic and AMH doctors diagnosed her with a non-toxic multinodular goiter, a disease impacting the thyroid gland. Sarah then traveled to AMH's care center, where she will receive surgery to prevent her symptoms from worsening. However, Sarah does not have active medical insurance and needs help to pay for her surgery. Sarah is scheduled to undergo a thyroidectomy on June 22nd at AMH's care center. During the procedure, surgeons will remove all or part of her thyroid gland. Now, AMH is requesting $936 to cover the cost of Sarah's surgery. Sarah says, "I feel bad when I see my family members working tirelessly on the farm without my help. Please help me so that I may be strong and be able to offer help to them."

John is a 36-year-old private primary school teacher from Uganda. After completing secondary school, he decided to go to a teacher’s college, where he studied primary-level teaching. John is married to a small-scale farmer, and they have three kids together. Their eldest two children are six and four years old and both attend school, while their youngest is three years old and hasn't started school yet. They all live together in a rented room. Nine years ago, John developed a small swelling on his right cheek. He didn't seek medical attention because he thought it would disappear with time, but the swelling continued to grow. Although he treats the swelling with herbs at home, John hasn't seen any positive change. Now, John experiences pain around his cheek and is increasingly concerned about the size of the swelling. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), can help. John traveled to AMH's care center to receive treatment and was diagnosed with a lipoma, a type of non-cancerous tumor. On June 7th, John will undergo surgery at AMH's care center to remove the lipoma. Now, John needs help to raise $145 to fund this procedure. John says, “ I hope I will get well after surgery and continue with my teaching duties after complete recovery.”