This young man is Omar from The Gambia, in West Africa.

Omar once had a stable family. His mother passed away, but his father was a taxi driver, which makes a good living in The Gambia. However, it was a hazardous job, and a car crash took his life recently.

Before his parents passed away, they were able to give him many siblings and an education where he learned English and how to write, as all schools in Gambia cost tuition. He has been using this education to try to find a way to support his family. He has support in his community to access wifi with the mobile device he got when his family was financially comfortable, but wifi is really the most they have to give.

The Gambia is one of the poorest countries in the world. An entry-level job pays by the day, with 12 hour work days, and pays enough only to feed yourself for that day. He is young, and finding himself with no suitable opportunities, and it is better he stays home to supervise the children.

Here in the United States, it is common for immigrants to wire their earnings to their home countries where the US dollar has more buying power, through services like Remitly. He has not had the pure luck to have a blood relative like that, which seemed like an unacceptable unfairness to me.

When I had met him online, I had just paid off a $100/mo loan, so I personally offered to send him some of that money instead that month so his family could eat. The landlord was not happy when he saw that the family had the money to eat, and threatened to have him arrested if he did not pay the rent, so I also decided to help with that, too. Since then, we have had an arrangement where I wire only a flat $90-$100 at the end of every month after I have paid all of my own bills, so he can pay rent and buy food and be able to look after his little siblings.

So in this way, I decided to informally adopt Omar as my brother.

But tragedy has struck. As soon as he no longer has to worry about finances anymore, his health has begun to suffer. It started with a septic wound on the knee of mysterious origin. I had a cat who died of cancer a few years ago, and it looked worryingly familiar to me. But I was able to get him through a course of antibiotics, and it's healed with a scar left.

But he woke up one day with a sudden great pain in the stomach, and I was able to help him get screened for only $42 USD. The results have come back positive for gastric cancer.

If it is not treated in the next 2 weeks, it will get worse.

I have done the math, and with the price of chemotherapy drugs and other treatments, I'm afraid this is finally beyond my ability as one underpaid hardworking man. This is very painful for me emotionally, knowing this is a trivial amount of money for just a few people in my country to pool together if absolutely needed, that there is plenty of money in this country to save this young man thousands of times over, but I feel helpless now.

A common question from those of us in the US: How do I know this isn't a scammer? How do I know I'm not being lied to? How do I know he actually needs or deserves help?

Put simply, I know The Gambia is among the poorest countries, and I know he is in The Gambia due to his bank info I've needed in order to make wire transfers. I have no doubt in my mind he needs the aid, even if he somehow felt the need to construct elaborate lies behind it.

If I may have my soapbox: Historical colonialism and the transatlantic slave trade has deliberately drained West Africa of every resource, and we reap the domino effect of this today, especially here in the US South where I live in relative comfort. No matter how much I struggle, I know at least my town has ubiquitous utilities, transportation infrastructure, and beautiful public parks. Now we have a country with a strong currency, and I think it's responsible and healthy for us to make a difference with it.

I know a lot is going on in this world. A lot of people need our help. But I don't want to see this family slip through the cracks. I don't want these small children to have no one left, when these problems could have easily been solved. Their lives are still important. It would break my heart if I never got to talk to Omar again and learn what it's like where he lives.

Please help my brother Omar fight cancer. I'm counting on you!