Kaw We is a 19-year-old Buddhist monk from a village in Burma. Kaw We currently lives and studies at the monastery in his village. His parents grow rice, and they pay rent for the land with half of their harvest. Kaw We is the youngest sibling in the family and has three older brothers and three older sisters.

Kaw We has experienced uncomfortable urinary symptoms since he was a toddler. For most of his life, he relied on traditional medicine, which helped to alleviate the symptoms temporarily. Kaw We’s family did not seek treatment at a hospital, assuming his condition was merely an annoyance and hoping to avoid the cost of modern medicine. With help from traditional medicine, Kaw We began to work on the family paddy field.

Recently, however, Kaw We’s symptoms worsened. He developed a fever, his face swelled, and he felt sharp pain in his abdomen. Traditional medicine no longer helped.

Kaw We’s family learned from fellow villagers about our medical partner’s clinic in Thailand. They decided to cross the border, traveling three hours to seek care for Kaw We’s condition.

The family arrived on September 12, 2016. After several tests, Kaw We was diagnosed with a bladder stone. On October 31, 2016, doctors at our medical partner’s hospital, Mae Sot General Hospital, performed a cystolithotomy surgery to remove the stone. Now, Kaw We’s family needs help to pay for this life-changing procedure.

“I would like to continue to be a monk,” says Kaw We. “I am now more worried about my current condition, and my only hope is that it can be fully cured.”