Children of the Americas is not just busy in the final months of the year, when we are preparing for a surgical/medical/dental team. Our board stays involved throughout the days, which become weeks and then months and suddenly it is "Team Time" once again.
There are board meetings to prepare for and attend, supply procurement and packing to do, and many, many bits of conversations, written correspondences, and quarterly reports to attend to. Crates to pack, flights to book; Excel lists to create and check off; medications to order; t-shirts to order; badges to laminate...you get the idea. Taking 100 + volunteers to Guatemala is a major undertaking. The emails are incessant, time consuming but vital.
One of those recent correspondences came from an American physician volunteering in Guatemala named Bill. He found Children of the Americas through our website. Bill had a request for assistance from our organization, not for himself, but for a teenager named Juan who is missing a leg following surgical amputation from a cancer diagnosis.
Without medical insurance, social services or affordable prosthetic labs, amputees in Guatemala live a life of very limited potential. In a country where physical labor is often the only source of income, limited mobility can have severe social and economic implications. The most sought after donation we bring on our teams are mobility assistance items; wheelchairs, crutches, and splints. Most valued of all are prosthetic legs. Unfortunately, they are also the most expensive item for our organization to provide.
Children of the Americas is participating in the GoodGiving Challenge until December 12th. Our fundraiser comes at an important time as we prepare for our next surgical/medical and prosthetic team in Guatemala from January 17-22.
The request came too late for Juan, who died two weeks after our email networking with Dr. Bill. We are comforted with knowing that his parents appreciated our efforts to help him. There are many more patients in Guatemala waiting for our help, like the boy on the left. Without an income, his mother has no hope of affording a prosthetic leg for her son, or even a comfortable crutch.
The importance of your financial gift during this fundraising period is easy to define.
There are board meetings to prepare for and attend, supply procurement and packing to do, and many, many bits of conversations, written correspondences, and quarterly reports to attend to. Crates to pack, flights to book; Excel lists to create and check off; medications to order; t-shirts to order; badges to laminate...you get the idea. Taking 100 + volunteers to Guatemala is a major undertaking. The emails are incessant, time consuming but vital.
One of those recent correspondences came from an American physician volunteering in Guatemala named Bill. He found Children of the Americas through our website. Bill had a request for assistance from our organization, not for himself, but for a teenager named Juan who is missing a leg following surgical amputation from a cancer diagnosis.
Children of the Americas is participating in the GoodGiving Challenge until December 12th. Our fundraiser comes at an important time as we prepare for our next surgical/medical and prosthetic team in Guatemala from January 17-22.
The request came too late for Juan, who died two weeks after our email networking with Dr. Bill. We are comforted with knowing that his parents appreciated our efforts to help him. There are many more patients in Guatemala waiting for our help, like the boy on the left. Without an income, his mother has no hope of affording a prosthetic leg for her son, or even a comfortable crutch. The importance of your financial gift during this fundraising period is easy to define.
It is simply life-changing.
You are one click away from making a difference.
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