​This is 10 month old Luciana. Her plight was brought to our attention by Sr. Veronica from the Palmar clinic, asking if HKIE could help.
Luciana, her mom Jocelin, and her grandmother Rosa, took the bus here and spent their first night last Sunday at Posada de Angel (thanks for the discount Daniel!). She had her Covid test Monday morning and we moved them over to Buen Samaritano (Emaus House .... our version of Ronald Mcdonald for those who are not familiar with it).
Dr Pablo Salamea Molina performed this difficult surgery on Tuesday and they returned home on Wednesday. As you can see the surgery was a great success !! Thaanks to Dr. Pablo, Hospital del Rio and our donors, this little one has a bright future.
Luciana will return next eek to be fit for a special dental prosthesis so her teeth and mouth will form correctly. Dra. Mariela Seguncia will make the form for her.
Another child helped thanks to all of you!

​A life saved thanks to the surgeons, Hospital del Rio and our loyal donors!
This is 1 1/2 year old Allisson who was born with an extra vein between her heart chambers. This caused blood around her lungs and prevented her from breathing normally. Can you imagine how her mother felt, seeing her little baby struggle to breathe, knowing there was a surgery to correct the problem, but also knowing she could never afford it!
Thanks to Derrylyn Churchill who alerted HKIE of this situation, Allisson was seen by Dr. Rodrigo Mendoza of Hospital del Rio. Between Dr. Rodrigo, our medical director Dr. Pablo Salamea Molina, Dr Juan Flores the cardiac surgeon, and Hospital del Rio, HKIE was able to provide the necessary heart surgery.
Allisson had her surgery last week and Dr. Rodrigo informs us she is set to have a heart healthy life! (Shown with mom and Dr. Rodrigo)
None of this would have been possible without the joint efforts of all concerned, and most importantly ..... all those who donated to this foundation!
Both Dr Flores and Dr Mendoza waived their surgical fee! Thank you. As they always do, the hospital gave us a generous discount!
All of the donors who have been supporting HKIE over the years should stand up and take a bow! Without you the foundation wouldn't have been able financially to help this child or the previous 455 children.

​Our medical director, Dr. Pablo Salamea Molina, has been busy these last couple weeks.
First was Emil, from Troncal, with his cleft lip. He is shown before and after.
The second is Santiago who had a seriously bad cleft lip which Dr. Pablo also repaired.
Thanks to Dr. Pablo donating his skills, Hospital del Rio giving us a generous discount and of course our supporters, these two babes will be able to go through life with beautiful smiles and no problem speaking normally!

​This is 13 year old Tatiana who has been staying with her family at Hogar de Esperanza. Until Garry welcome them to The Hogar, they
were living on the street. When she and her family arrived, Tatiana had a severe eye infection which Garry immediately attended to. While it improved, Garry called us and if asked HKIE could double check her vision to insure proper healing. Of course we said yes.
Tatiana was seen by Dra Naty Torres at Exilaser who gave her some more medications and asked that she be seen by Dr. Miotto to see if there was any damage to the cornea. Dr. Miotto confirmed there is some scarring on her left cornea that has severely compromised her vision. Tatiana will have a follow up in three weeks. She also received a pair of glasses to improve the impaired vision in her right eye. (Doesn't she look cool and sophisticated in her glasses!)
All of us at HKIE and Hogar de Esperanza are hopeful the medication will do the trick. The fight to save her vision is on! All of our loyal donors make it possible to save her vision.
Huge thanks to all our donors and the wonderful doctors and staff at Exilaser for allowing these little miracles to take place. A huge thank you also goes out to Garry and his wonderful staff for all the amazing work they do for the least fortunate people in our community!

​Update and CHILD 452
First: 15 year old Pablo had his double eye surgery yesterday. Dr Miotto of Exilaser informs us that everything went very well !. This surgery corrected his less than 50% vision. Pablo will have a second surgery in about three months to prevent any further deterioration of his eyes. needless to say, he and his mother are eternally grateful to the staff at Exilaser and you, the supporters of HKIE for making this miracle happen. A huge thank you goes out t o Exilaser for providing HKIE with a generous discount for the surgery!
Pablo and his family now know he will not go blind in a few years!
Child 452 is little 4 1/2 year old Sara who has a severe astigmatism.
Dra. Nataly did a thorough exam and now little Sara will have glasses and clear vision. Isn't she a cutie!
A big thank you to all our donors!

​We are pleased to announce that Jim and Jennifer
Cory
have joined our HKIE Cuenca team. They will initially be helping us with patient coordination and future fundraising campaigns. They will be bringing a high level of energy and commitment to our efforts of helping the less fortunate children in Ecuador. They are not new to HKIE; Jim and Jennifer, along with some of their friends, hosted a very successful Super Bowl fundraising event last year!
Please welcome them to the HKIE team!

​Today was busy for HKIE and Exilaser. We received a call early this am about a young boy from Gualaceo with severe eye pain. We told the family to come to Exilaser ASAP.Thanks to Dra Nataly Torres (and the crew) at Exilaser, we were able to get little 5 year old Alexis squeezed in for an exam. Dra Nataly diagnosed him with scar tissue on one eye and gave him drops for the pain. We will have a follow up on Monday with Dr. Miotto to determine if there is any damage to the cornea.
Also today Exilaser saw 15 year old Pablo. After his exam Dr. Miotto determined that he is in desperate need of surgery. His eyesight with the best corrective lens is 50% and Dr. miotto said that if left untreated his eyesight would continue to deteriorate most likely be total blind in a few years. CAN'T LET THAN HAPPEN, CAN WE?
Pablo is set for surgery on both eyes this Thursday. Then in 3 months he will need a follow up surgery to prevent any further deterioration.
Thanks to a generous discount from Exilaser and all of our faithful donors, 2 children will not lose their eyesight. Two very happy and thankful families!

​Update from Helping Kids in Ecuador (HKIE)
Both of these kiddos are from Salinas. The baby with the severe cleft lip was referred to HKIE by Sister Veronica Kim from the Palmar Medical Clinic. While this will be a difficult case, Dr Pablo Salamea Molina will perform the surgery and she will grow up with a beautiful smile and be able to speak clearly!
The second child was referred to HKIE by
Dodie Schadlich
before the lockdown. She was born with deformed legs making it impossible to learn to walk. She has been on our minds the last few months. She will be examined by Dr Gustavo Ochoa at Clinica Fracturas to determine if she is a good candidate for surgery. We PRAY and hope she is! If she is cleared for surgery by Dr Ochoa, he will determine if one or two surgeries for each leg will be needed.
The HKIE team will do whatever it takes to give this little cutie the chance to walk and run with other children and have a normal life!
Because of our VERY loyal donors we can provide funding for the surgeries for both of these little ones.

​This is little 4 month old Damien from Troncal, a very lucky little boy who will now be able to grow up without the stigma and problems associated with a cleft lip. His parents (shown here with Dra Nicole) are so thankful for the HKIE supporters and doctors who made this dream come true for their little one!