Honor God, safeguard your health, and trust that all else will flourish from this foundation. Ownership of your well-being is your promise to rise, no matter the challenge.
Growing Up Without Medicine
Sometimes I wish this were only a professional interest for me.
Before my family and I moved to Norway in 2007, we were living in Africa with a mother who struggled with high blood pressure and likely high cholesterol. She needed regular check-ups and medication. But very often, there simply wasn’t enough money.
Sometimes she didn’t go to the hospital because we couldn’t afford it. Other times she went, but the bills were too high to continue treatment. Healthcare was not something you could rely on. It was something you hoped you could afford.
I remember coming home from school with a headache and there being no medicine in the house. When we asked, it wasn’t because our parents didn’t care. They cared deeply. But resources were limited. Even something as basic as pain relief was not always available.
As a child, you don’t fully understand it.
As an adult, you do.
And it stays with you.
I saw people living with conditions that could have been treated. I saw people getting worse because they delayed care. I saw suffering that didn’t need to happen. And I saw people die — not because treatment didn’t exist, but because it was financially out of reach.
Years later, when I returned to the Democratic Republic of Congo and Tanzania, I realized that many things had not changed. I sat with older women who believed their constant pain, high blood pressure, or diabetes were simply part of aging. No one had explained that these were medical conditions that could be managed. They had learned to endure instead of seek care.
I met a woman with Type 1 diabetes who told me she cannot afford insulin every day. She knows she needs it. She understands what it does. But knowing is not the same as being able to buy it.
I met a woman going through menopause who did not even realize what was happening to her — and even if she had known, hormone replacement therapy would have been far beyond her financial reach.
I met young women facing reproductive health challenges, blocked by financial and social barriers, even when they understood what they needed.
That is when something becomes clear:
Awareness alone is not enough.
You can educate someone.
You can encourage someone.
But if they cannot afford treatment, none of it is enough.
In developed countries, we speak a lot about awareness and encouragement — and that matters. But in many underserved communities, the greatest barrier is access.
Access to affordable medication.
Access to pharmacy services.
Access to care without fear of financial ruin.
I cannot ignore what I have seen and lived.
I believe health should not depend on income.
It should not depend on geography.
It should not depend on luck.
There are still families choosing between food and medicine. Still women suffering in silence because they do not know help exists — or cannot afford it even if they do.
If this speaks to you, I invite you to consider supporting this mission.
Your support will help us work toward affordable pharmacy services and essential healthcare access in communities where people are still forced to choose between food and medication.
This is long-term work. It will not change overnight. But every movement begins with people who care enough to act. As you can see from the pictures below, we have already begun building this initiative.
If you would like to support this mission, you can do so here:
