​Meet 7 year old Miguel Valencia from the Quito area. We were introduced to him via our friend at Hospital Metropolitano in Quito. While discussing another matter she told us the story of this young boy who desperately needed surgery. About two years ago, late one night, Miguel mistook a bottle containing a corrosive cleaner for a drink. The upper part of his esophagus was totally destroyed. The first hospital he was rushed to said nothing could be done. His parents got him to another hospital where they inserted a feeding tube and the doctors told Miguel and his parents that was how he would live his life...never again tasting food or drink!
Fortunately Miguel came to the attention of the doctors at Metropolitano. While it is a fairly new procedure, the doctors and parents decided an esophageal replacement could be the answer.
This was a complicated eight hour surgery!
Great News! HKIE was just notified by the hospital that not only is Miguel out of intensive care, he is eating solids for the first time since the accident and thoroughly enjoying every bite! Miguel is due to return home safely on Friday.
Thanks to the staff at Metropolitano who donated their services, and the generous donors of HKIE, this young man will now be able to live and enjoy a normal life!
The dramatic increase in the quality of his life is beyond words!

This is 5 year old Josue David shown with Dr Juan-Carlos Salamea-Molina
from Hospital del Rio. This young man suffered from 2 undescended testicles. In addition to psychological problems left untreated this condition may also cause infertility and testicular cancer.
Dr Juan-Carlos, Dr Pablo's brother, always waives his surgical fees.
Hospital Del Rio, as always, provided HKIE with a generous discount.
Dr Juan Carlos performed the corrective surgery yesterday. His mother and the other 10 extended family members with whom he lives are very thankful for the help they received from HKIE.
Also shown is little Isabela. Isabela's nose was eaten away from an severe infection post birth and she has received 6 corrective surgeries with Dr Pablo Salamea Molina , Dra. Maria Siguencia and Dr. Diego Maldonado. Yesterday Dr. Pablo and Dra. Siguencia put in a new prosthetic while her nose continues to heal.
All the doctors involved waived their fees!
A big thank you to our supporters, our doctors and Hospital del Rio.

​This is 5 year old Domenic from Descanso...about 20 miles outside of Cuenca. 4 years ago Dr Pablo Javier Salamea Molina repaired Domenic's cleft lip.
This past week we repaired his cleft palate. While not the worst Dr. Pablo has ever seen, any hole in the roof of the mouth will prevent a child from eating and speaking correctly.
Two surgeries in four years will totally change his quality of life! Thank you Dr Pablo, Hospital Del Rio and the loyal HKIE supporters for making both surgeries possible for Domenic!
Domenic's mother is very grateful her child will be able to live a healthy, normal life!

​This is 10 year old Aaron. He was examined by Exilaser doctors last week and HKIE paid for a CT of his eyes. Today he saw Dra. Nataly Torres, the pediatric specialist at Exilaser.
Aaron has a very severe astigmatism, especially in his left eye. He received a new pair of glasses and eye drops to prevent him from rubbing his eyes, which could cause further damage. He will need a follow up eye exam in 3 months to check for any further deterioration and another CT in 6 months. If Aaron eyesight continues to decline, he will need a corneal transplant.
We assured him and his father that HKIE and our very loyal donors will do everything possible to insure he does not lose his vision!
Thanks to all our supporters for helping this great young man and to Exilaser and Dra
Naty Torres
for their continued support of HKIE kids.

​As posted yesterday from Hospital del Rio, this is Maria from "little" Banos. Her cleft lip was repaired by Dr.
Pablo Javier Salamea Molina at Hospital del Rio.
Her parents were thrilled to receive the help of HKIE to allow their beautiful little daughter grow up without the stigma of a cleft lip.
The parents never dreamed Maria would have her surgery performed in a first class private hospital by a surgeon as talented as Dr Pablo. HKIE is very fortunate and blessed to have a partnership with Dr Pablo and Hospital Del Rio!
A big thanks to all the supporters who make these little miracles a reality.

Yesterday began with a 9 am appointment at Hospital del Rio for little Anita. Dra Torres during her exam last week wanted to confirm the reason for her poor eyesight. So Dr
David Barzallo Moscoso
, a pediatric neurologist performed an EEG. It is believed from those results that little Anita has a degenerative brain disease....there will be an MRI next week to confirm the finding. Anita got her first pair of glasses at Exilaser that will greatly improve her vision.
On a brighter note,10 Year old Nathalia saw our cardiologist Rodrigo Mendoza at del Rio....she had suspected heart problems. Dr. Mendoza put a 24 hour holter moniter on her. The results came back negative for any problems!
Yesterday we also took Nayali to Salud Audativa as a follow up to her previous hearing test. We set up a hearing aid calibration and replaced her earpieces. The father was extremely happy.
Lastly we took Cristian, one of our children from CETAP Lucy school, to Exilaser. He is shown here with his new glasses and also with
Rocio Illescas the angel who runs
Lucy Cetap the school which helps so many of the children with tutoring and familial and personal counseling..

Since the doctors opening up last week, HKIE has been busy coordinating 15 children for medicines, surgeries, glasses, and exams.
A young boy is having a very complicated surgery on his damaged esophagus today at Metropolitano Hospital in Quito. More on him later.
Last week Dra Nataly Torres , the pediatric specialist from Exilaser spent over 2 hours with 3 of our children. Ana and Fernando had been seen the previous week but Dra Nataly wanted to verify the diagnosis. Fernando and Ana both need extra strong lenses; Ana needs a neurology exam tomorrow at Hospital del Rio.
Child 418 is a cousin of theirs, 8 year old Jenny. She too has "bouncing eyes" and will most likely need surgery
In the meantime all three will need special therapy, as their eyesight was so bad as very young children, their learning curve was severely impaired. The therapy will be set up once the buses begin running from the Ludo area.
We are also currently working with two patients from Salinas and one from Cotacachi. More on them coming..
Thanks to our donors and Dra. Nataly (who volunteered the entire 3 hours!), these children will have a chance at life f.or a normal life.clic aquí para editar.

Pictured is 14 year old Brandon. His mother was told several year ago he would soon be blind unless he received a corneal transplant in both eyes. Any surgery, much less a expensive corneal transplant, is something they could never afford. Just imagine the pain and disappointment he and his family was living with everyday knowing he was losing his eyesight.
We got Brandon to Dr.
Giuseppe Miotto
of Exilaser. He agreed with the diagnosis and is already working on procuring a cornea. Very soon, thanks to the continued support of our donors and the generous discount providing by Exilaser, Brando will have his first surgery. After he recovers, we will make every effort to provide him with his second corneal transplant as soon as possible.
Brandon and his mother, after years of worrying about his loss of vision, were overwhelmed with joy that so many people they will never meet in person stepped up to help them.
As were walking home from Brandon's appointment, we talked about how only a few years ago HKIE would not have been in the position financially to help this family.
Thanks to your support and the wonderful eye surgeons at Exilaser, this young man will not be facing a life with no vision!

This is 16 year old Jhon from a small community near Machala. Jhon was born with a cleft lip but being from a small village, he did not have access to a plastic surgeon nor could his family afford one. Last year his father heard about HKIE and Dr.
Pablo Javier Salamea Molina
and was able to have his cleft lip repaired.
Yesterday, Jhon had rhinoplasty surgery to repair a severely damaged septum which was causing breathing difficulties. This was a very, very difficult surgery and Dr Pablo asked Dr Diego Maldonado, our ENT surgeon, to assist him.
Both surgeons always waive their surgical fees and Hospital Del Rio always gives HKIE a generous discount.
Now Jhon is ready to go forward with his life, thanks to all our supporters, Dr Pablo and Hospital del Rio.
Jhon is shown here with Dr Pablo's right hand "man", Dra.
Nicole Solano
and Dr Maldonado
HKIE is truly blessed to have these three doctors on our team!Paragraph. Haz clic aquí para editar.

​This past week we were able to get a few of our patients in for doctor visits.
First is 8 year old Fernando, from Ludo. After the normal vision test the doctor needed a more in depth study and ordered a CT of his eyes. It turns out Fernando has nystagmus: a condition in which eyes make repetitive, uncontrolled movements...making it difficult for vision and balance. He has had this condition since birth and Dr Miotto explained it could not be helped by surgery. Monday Fernando will have a follow up with Exilaser's pediatric specialist to be fitted for glasses to greatly improved his vision.
Next is Fernando's 9 year old sister Anita who also has vision problems from birth. The CT confirmed a loss in her field of vision. Anita is pictured wearing her new frames, awaiting delivery on her new lenses so she can have normal vision on Monday. Exilaser, as always, waived the fees for the vision tests.
Last is 13 year old Nayali, also from Ludo. She has had a hearing problem from birth and it was thought she may need new hearing aids. After a hearing test through our ENT, Dr. Diego Maldonado at Hospital Del Rio, it was decided to first try to re calibrate her old hearing aids before considering new ones.
Dr Diego ,as always, waived his fees!
Thanks to our loyal supporters and these generous doctors, the lives of three more children have been greatly improved.