By Leila Hawken | Global Giving Coordinator
Our work to build a network of cooperating children’s hospitals throughout Latin America, one country at a time, has progressed with the help of our loyal GlobalGiving donors who have provided support since we began with building a hospital in Managua, Nicaragua. Since that beginning, our program has expanded to include Costa Rica, Paraguay and Mexico. That expansion continues toward the future reality of a hospital network, sustaining and self-sufficient.
The success of our surgical training missions has meant that now, not all missions need to be full surgical missions of around 15 medical professionals. Because the training aspect has taken hold, some missions can be led by smaller teams bringing the latest in specialized training to an already trained hospital team.
This week, a team of two, led by Dr. Forbess, pediatric cardiac surgeon from the teaching hospital at the University of Maryland, visited the National Children’s Hospital of Costa Rica, accomplishing three complex pediatric heart surgeries in three days and meeting with officials to determine future training needs at that hospital. The smaller team collaborated with the local hospital team, building on earlier training missions.
Schedules are now being established for the Surgeons of Hope 2024 calendar that will include a return to Costa Rica with a full team, three surgical missions to Paraguay, and two to Mexico, one of those led by SoH President Eduardo da Cruz, M.D., of Boston Children’s Hospital.
There are so many stories of children whose heart problems have been corrected during these Surgeons of Hope surgical missions. The photos alone are persuasive testament to the difference Surgeons of Hope is making in these young lives and the value of our relationship with their local pediatric hospitals.
One story may serve as an example, the story of Gustavo who is now nine years old, not a likely outcome given the heart problem that afflicted his younger years. He was born in 2014 in Paraguay with a congenital heart disease, called double outlet right ventricle that caused internal problems, severely limiting his physical movement. After four hours of surgery, his heart was corrected during one of Surgeons of Hope’s surgical missions.
Today, Gustavo is in 4th grade with no sign of his earlier heart problem. He is doing really well in school, excelling in mathematics and dreaming of becoming a doctor one day.
These many success stories are due to the amazing volunteer medical teams from leading children’s hospitals in the U.S. and Europe that partner with Surgeons of Hope.
Surgeons of Hope is, in turn, immensely grateful to you, our GlobalGiving donors who continue to support our mission to create a network of well-equipped and trained pediatric heart programs so that Latin American countries can provide a parallel standard of care, equal to what is available in the developed world.
Please continue your GlobalGiving support and tell your friends. Your help matters.
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