Hello, my name is Mary Kate and I've created this fundraiser to help my friend and former colleague, Pauline, afford emergency medical care for her 5-year-old son, Simon.

Late last week, Simon sustained life-threatening burns after tripping and falling onto a large pot of boiling water over a fire at a neighbor's house. By the time someone reached him, he had suffered third-degree burns on the entire front half of his body, to the extent that many children his age would likely not have survived. He was rushed to the hospital, where Pauline was told he would need extensive skin grafts and plastic surgery procedures to repair the damages.

Pauline and Simon live in eastern Uganda, where the specialized medical care needed for these types of procedures is unavailable. Out of necessity, they are now in the capital city, Kampala, where he can get the care he needs. Unfortunately, it will not be provided without upfront payments, which are prohibitively high for someone with an average income where she lives.

We have already raised and transferred $2,500 to cover the initial costs required to perform the emergency procedures. Thankfully, the processes so far have been successful, and Simon is currently in the ICU. While she is grateful for this first stage to be complete, Pauline and Simon are now looking at a very long road to recovery, including post-op medication, high ICU costs and the remaining balance for operations - all of which she is responsible for out-of-pocket. We are hoping to help raise the remaining balance so she can focus on his care, her own work, and helping Simon get back to being a fun-loving 5-year-old boy.

Pauline is a wonderful mentor, passionate about food security and women's empowerment in her community, and dreams about having a farm of her own one day. Until we can create a world where such deep disparities in access to affordable and life-saving healthcare don't exist, please help us in supporting Pauline to fund the remainder of her son's needed medical care. Any and all donations are deeply appreciated.