Peninah is a 26-year-old woman from Uganda. She is the sixth born child in a family of eight children. After completing primary school grade seven, she dropped out. Now, she stays with her sister in Southwestern Uganda. Her father is a small-scale farmer, while her mother mostly stays home. In October 2022, Peninah began experiencing troubling symptoms, including mild pain and swelling in her neck. She visited a local health center, where she received an exam and was diagnosed with a non-toxic goiter. She was prescribed medication, but now, she often has a sore throat and sometimes experiences difficulty breathing. Surgery has been recommended to treat her condition. Fortunately, our medical partner, African Mission Healthcare (AMH), is helping Peninah receive treatment. On March 9th, she will undergo a undergo a thyroidectomy, 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. Peninah shared, “I want to look normal again. I pray that I may have a successful surgery and be able to live a comfortable life in the future.”

Namara is a 3-year-old child from Uganda. He and his four siblings live with their mother and grandparents. The children depend on their grandparents who are small-scale farmers as well as well-wishers, friends, and relatives for financial support. Namara’s mother reports that her son developed an on-and-off small swelling in his private parts two years ago. Later, Namara began to refuse to eat, vomiting whenever he ate, and soon started to cough as well. His mother realized that these conditions would develop whenever the swelling appeared because he would be in pain. He was taken to the nearest health center and was given medication, but it only helped for a short while. Currently, he cries a lot when the swelling appears. Namara was diagnosed right inguinal hernia. This hernia causes him pain and discomfort. Fortunately, on February 3rd, he will undergo hernia repair surgery at our medical partner's care center. Once completed, this procedure will hopefully allow him to live more comfortably and confidently. Namara and his family need help raising $170 to fund his procedure and care. Namara’s mother says, “My son’s condition is worrying and [he] has had medication without improvement. I pray that he may get well through surgery so that he may be able to start school comfortably.”

Maria is a 59-year-old lady from Kenya. She is married and has six children; all grown up and working manual jobs to support themselves. Maria and her husband depend on their small farm. For over 5 years Maria has had abdominal pains, especially in the epigastric region. She has been treated many times in different hospitals. This year the pain became much worse and a scan showed a she has cholelithiasis. She came to Nazareth Hospital and our partner surgeon advised her to have a laparotomy. Unfortunately, due to hereconomic status, Maria and her family cannot manage to raise the $788 cost for this treatment. If not treated, Maria will continue to have the pain and may have more complications like pancreatitis or gall bladder obstruction. “I have stayed in pain for many years and even my children are tired of taking me to the hospital every time. I am kindly hoping to have this sponsorship so that I can be treated once and for all so that my life can be normal again. My family lives a life of struggle, we cannot make it to pay for this surgery, so I will appreciate and thank God if helped,” said Maria quietly.