Rogerio, my husband, has needed surgery on his kidneys for almost six years.  In theory, Brazil has "universal healthcare", but in practice, this healthcare is neither universal nor easily accessible. Additionally, the public health system is insufficient in many ways. Anyone who has the means to do so purchases private insurance to supplement this subpar system, and those who can't afford to are at its mercy.
Rogerio has worked in non-profit organizations most of his life doing community outreach in Rocinha (the favela in which he was born/raised). His penchant for this work, coupled with his remarkable linguistic abilities, provided opportunities for him to meet and partner with multiple anthropologists from the US. He has actively engaged with several study abroad programs in Rio for more than a decade and has provided invaluable research assistance for a variety of projects.   
As hard as he works, and as important as his work is, he has always relied on Brazil's public healthcare system, and waiting for services from this system has resulted in a diminished quality of life.
After six years of constant pain and being treated inhumanely, blamed for his health problems, and turned away by dozens of healthcare workers, we decided to take matters into our own hands and pay a private doctor to perform the surgery. In addition to the obvious reasons, we felt this decision necessary because we were told that having any "preexisting health conditions" might interfere with the US granting him a Green Card. This year has been hard on everyone, and being on a different continent than most of my loved ones has been extremely painful for me. I want to go home ASAP, but not without him! We *NEED* him healthy and we *NEED* him to get his Green Card. Fortunately, out-of-pocket medical procedures will not bankrupt you here in Brazil the way they can in the US, but we are doing all of this on a graduate student salary. So any help we can get is greatly, GREATLY appreciated.