Birthday Project 2009 ~ Meet the Children

[Theresa]

Meet some of the children who have been helped by the San Jorge Children's Foundation. A few pictures, a few stories; just a small representation of the results that can come from every donation...every click on the PayPal button...every check written.
From the San Jorge Children's Foundation:

We expect your donations to make the most beautiful gift to hundreds of kids. Help us help others and change our kids' lives.

Be the wind of change that lets children with medical needs and special conditions live the life we all deserve.

Make the latest and most advanced medical treatments accessible to low income families to fulfill their children's medical needs and conditions.


Your donation changes lives!

[Theresa]

Jovana, 5 years old

Jovana arrived at the Foundation when she was five months old. She had a vascular tumor in her forehead close to her left eye, threatening with loss of vision. After several treatments, the tumor began to reduce. She is much better and living a much better life today, thanks to the Foundation.

[Theresa]

[Theresa]

Josiah Negron, 1 year old
(December 2007)

..



Jose Angel Hernandez Reyes, 2 years old
(April 2008)

..



Thalia Villanueva Quinones, 1 year old
(August 2008)

..

[Theresa]

Educational Program

[Theresa]

Suan, 17 years old

Suan was born in 1989 with cleft palate. Dr. Robert Walton did reconstructive surgery for the first time when she was a month old. In her 17 years, she has had about 11 surgeries. Today she enjoys great health and good self-esteem.

[Theresa]

Jackson

Jackson was admitted in July 2004 with a malformation in his ears. After Dr. Walton's surgery in December 2006, Jackson's life changed and he became a more dynamic and confident youngster.

[Theresa]

Hematology and Oncology

[Theresa]

Angel and Ricardo

In November 2006, Angel was diagnosed with anemia. His brother Ricardo, who was only seven years old, was a compatible donor for the bone marrow transplant. Now their ties are even stronger than ever.

[Theresa]

Click HERE to find out how.

[audamay]

Thank you so much Theresa for letting us see those children and how they have been helped.

(My own great great nephew was born with a cleft palate and gone through some operations too and is still only 3 years old but a happier pleasant child I have yet to meet. The charity which helps his kind of problem is "The Smile Train" and is world wide).

I am so happy to see that you have shown us these beautiful children and I think it is a wonderful gesture to help them in Johnny's name and I am sure he will be very proud Such a worthy cause - God Bless them all!

[shadowydog]

How wonderful that there are children out there right now that our donations in Johnny's name will help like the ones shown here.

[Depp's Pearl]

Precious gifts, these children. Bless them.
Thank you for bringing their needs to our attention, and bringing us together to help them.
I wonder if Johnny knows about this project yet?
He's such a gentleman, he will probably feign surprise--for our delight and amusement, of course!

[b.p. olive]

My brother, who came to live with us when he was six months old, and was subsequently adopted into our family, was also born with a cleft palate and a hare lip (what it was called way back in 1966). Two of his three children have the same thing, although the oldest was so slight that no one knew it until his third child was born with the full defect and they checked to first two for it. What is seen in the pictures of these youngest children is just a beginning. The 17 year old, with her many, many surgeries is pretty much the full story of what awaits a child born with this birth defect. For those who may not fully understand the situation, the cleft is a hole in the roof of the mouth. It usually cannot safely be fully corrected until the child's head and mouth have stopped growing, so it is generally done in stages over many years' time. There are other problems that can occur as well. Tooth buds are sometimes misplaced in the mouth and orthodonture and even surgery are needed to straighten sometimes badly misplaced teeth. In the case of my brother, because it went so long without treatment (for lack of a better word), his eardrums were all but destroyed by infection caused by the air and baby formula going up through the roof of his mouth and through his ears. So, secondary problems are common. I'm sorry to go on about this, and if it is deemed inappropriate for the thread, I apologize. But, I did want to emphasize just how much time and money it takes to fully fix something that may initially sound simple.

Having said that, I've got a question or two. Does the San Jorge Children's Foundation continue with the surgeries until everything is completely corrected, or does it just do this first surgery or two? And, does it run an orphanage as part of the organization?


Thanks Theresa.

[Theresa]

Having said that, I've got a question or two. Does the San Jorge Children's Foundation continue with the surgeries until everything is completely corrected, or does it just do this first surgery or two? And, does it run an orphanage as part of the organization?

Although I don't know for sure, I think the foundation is there for the children for as long as they need the care.

From their web site:

• The Foundation was born from life experiences of the doctors and hospital support personnel, who know the needs and share the pain of children with congenital or acquired malformations and those of the cancer patient or with other sicknesses. With this in mind, a group of community leaders united their efforts to establish this organization.
  
  San Jorge Children’s Foundation in an entity that works independent from the San Jorge Children’s Hospital, even though it receives unconditional support from this institution.

They don't run an orphanage. They provide financial support for low-income families: surgery expenses due to congenital or acquired malformation, medicines, laboratories, specialized studies, materials and medical doctor honoraries, and educational support for hospital-confined children.