This is 14 year old Marcelino from Ibarra who was born without legs. He has lived in a community home for the past 7 years due to his family"s drug and alcohol addiction.
The community has asked Prostesis Imbabura to provide him with 2 prosthetic legs. HKIE works closely with Prostesis Imbabura and they asked for our help to provide this young man with functioning prosthetics. Also needed are special sleeves to protect his stumps as he has never worn a prosthetic.
Imagine how thrilled he is knowing he will soon be able to walk for the first time in his life!
The community and government have declared this young man adoptable. However, without legs and mobility the chances of adoption are slim. Marcelino loves to be active and with these prosthetics he can more easily move, play and become an active member of society. We hope and pray that this young man will now be able to become part of a loving family.
We will update you on this brave young man's progress!

This is 5 1/2 year old Carlitos. He was severely burned in August, but Living 2 hours away from Cuenca he did not recieve adequate medical treatment until November. Thanks to Gary and Dena Pate from Pate Ministries, Carlitos was recently brought to our attention.
Today we set up appointments for a minimum of 3 treatments to soften his scarring on his face (to be done 3 weeks apart). Following the treatments he will be evaluated for probable skin grafts.
He is such a darling little boy. Tod became his new best friend. And when he saw the medicine ($50) to be rubbed on his scars...he said to Dr Pablo "I can pay, I have the 50 centavos"!
The father was so grateful the his son will be treated at Hospital del Rio..
Many thanks to Dr. Pablo Salamea, Hospital del Rio and all our supporters for allowing HKIE to help this young man.

This is 4 year old Betsy. She was born with an extraordinarily wide mouth that prevented her from eating and speaking properly. 9 months ago Dr Pablo Salamea Molina performed surgery at Hospital del Rio to make her mouth more normal
.
Now Betsy is undergoing 3 procedures at Hospital del Rio (3 weeks apart) to minimize any scarring from the surgery. She and her parents come from a very poor area on the coast near San Pedro but are more than happy to make these trips.
They are so thankful to the hospital, Dr Pablo and the HKIE supporters. (mom sends us pictures weekly saying how beautiful her daughter has become!)
As they always do with our patients, Hospital del Rio gave HKIE a significant discount on the hospital costs.