In 2021 God called us to Tunisia to be the directors of an international school that provided education to local children. We met and became close friends with Maira, the Executive Director. Maira is fluent in Arabic, her native language, as well as French and English. She was our link to understanding the rich culture of North Africa and communicating with the parents and families that we served. Without her, our work would not have been nearly as effective or even possible.

We feel that God sent us to Tunisia to use our educational skills and experiences to help build a school where children and families thrive. What we had not expected was to build relationships that would last a lifetime. Maira has become as close to us as family as we share our joys and laughter as well as sorrows. She has become a close forever friend and we often refer to her as our Tunisian daughter. We have maintained close contact with her as we frequently Facetime and visit her on our return trips to Tunisia.

One of her many gifts is working with young children. We see her interacting with the children in a positive and loving way, and know that one day she will be a wonderful mother. Maira has endometriosis and has learned to live with the associated chronic pain. She has endured surgeries to remove cysts and fibroid tumors. This has been very costly financially and has added enormous stress. She now faces the real possibility of not having children of her own, which is understandably devastating.

Here is her story in her own words, ""I'm 33 years old and, so far, I have had two surgeries to remove fibroids and large cysts. Last surgery was on July 19th 2024 (one of the cysts had 3 liters of blood). On September 27th, my doctor said that the cysts are back in both ovaries. On October 28th, I discovered that because of my severe endometriosis, I have a low fertility rate and thus a limited number of eggs. My plan was to conserve my eggs but when I found out from my doctor that I will need to do the procedure two or three times to eventually be able to preserve ten or twelve eggs, I was very disappointed and overwhelmed because it is very expensive for me and there is no way I can afford it. I'm hoping that your kindness will help me cover such expenses or at least part of it. Please understand that this is very important for me as I can see that my chances of becoming a mom one day are fading with every day that goes by."

The estimated total medical cost for the procedure to harvest and freeze her eggs, (which would allow her to become a mother once she is married) is 15,000 Tunisian dinars (TND). The current exchange rate is 1 TND is $0.31. What is overwhelmingly expensive for her, 16,000 TND (a year's salary) is more affordable for us, about 5,000 USD.

We are reaching out through GoFundMe to help fundraise for Maira. Tunisia does not support GoFundMe. We plan to withdraw any monies raised and send it to her via Western Union. Our goal is to raise $5,000 to remove the financial barrier.

We are forever grateful for your consideration and participation in raising funds.