By Leila Hawken | Fundraising Coordinator
The last few reports about our project have described how the staff at our Pediatric Heart Center in Nicaragua have continued their work in spite of destabilizing political strife in Managua affecting everyday life through much of 2018.
We applaud the courage and endurance of the local medical team. Doctors, nurses, and other professionals kept to a schedule of heart operations and welcomed visits from teams from other countries, including Mexico and Belgium within the past three months.
The results have been inspiring. The local team drew upon their training and began to perform more complex surgeries on their own. We are pleased to report that they are now regularly correcting a congenital abnormality called “tetralogy of fallot” with successful outcomes for the children. The abnormality means that the child’s heart has four difficult problems that need correcting all at once.
We receive regular reports from the local Director of our Surgeons of Hope program at the hospital, Dr. Gerardo Mejia. He is committed to the mission supported by Surgeons of Hope to bring about the local success. Together with our GlobalGiving donors, we are changing the lives of these children, as well as the lives of their families. The gift of a normal childhood, going to school or helping with farming, frees that child’s family from constant care and worry.
On the more practical side, Dr. Mejia reports that supplies are holding up OK, but two echo-cardiograph machines are old and need replacement and the Heart Center is short four bedside monitors. That need will be our focus in the coming weeks, with your help.
Children in the photos accompanying this report have received operations since January. They are a sampling, but you can see the life-altering results in the faces of the children and their parents. Your generosity is reflected in these photos. Please continue your support through GlobalGiving
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