This is Edwin and his mom in front of Exilaser in Cuenca.
Edwin is a young boy from the Yungilla area who has both myopia...near sightedness....and strabisimus ...lazy eye. Either of these conditions would make it difficult for Edwin, but the combination makes it difficult for him to concentrate and do well school.
Tomorrow he will receive his pre op tests and later this week Dr. Torres and Dr. Miotto from Exilaser will perform surgery for the strabisimus. After the surgery Edwin will be fitted for glasses enabling him to progress in school.
​Thanks to a generous discount from Exilaser and our loyal HKIE supporters, Edwin's quality of life is about to be dramatically improved!exilaser.ec

On the left is Cristofer with Dr Niera at Hospital del Rio
Cristofer is being treated for a severe sinus allergy. Hopefully with the proper medication, no other treatment will be necessary.
On the right is Ishmael with Rocio and Dra. Anamarie Toral.  Dra Toral is a neurologist. She is treating Ishmael for ADHD. With the proper medication, he can attend a regular school and have healthy relationships with his friends and family.
​HKIE and Dr. Diego Maldonado are looking for a newer model hearing aid for Ismael. His current one is of little value.

These are some of the children helped on the recent mission to Portoviejo.

Juan Carlos age 8 shown on the table awaiting his cleft palate surgery.
Amalia age 5 with her foot bandaged...she had both her hands and one foot worked on last year when we were there.....both her hands and feet were webbed making it difficult to walk or handle things.
\Romina age 2...sitting on the surgery table awaiting her cleft palate surgery.
Brianna, shown in her mother's arms after her cleft lip surgery.That was one delighted mother!Benjamin, aged 16 months, in his mother's arms awaiting his cleft palate surgery
Domenik with his double big toe making it impossible to walk correctly.

There were also burn victim repairs, removal of extra fingers or toes plus more cleft lip and palate repairs.
These were surgeries the families never could have afforded yet which changed each life and that of the whole family!
The teams of doctors and nurses volunteered their time, working from 9 in the morning until between 9 and 11 in the evening! We applaud their selfless dedication to so many of the poorer families in Ecuador
Thank you Dr Jorge Palacios of Fundacion Rostros Felices Guayaquil and Dr Pablo Javier Salamea Molina of Fundacion Rostros Felices Cuenca and all the rest of the team for allowing HKIE the opportunity to be a part of this and other marvelous missions.
And thanks to all the HKIE supporters for your generosity and encouragement!