Pictured with her mother is 7 year old Beatriz. She had a hole in her mouth behind her front teeth ( not an actual cleft palate ) which caused her problems eating and speaking. Last week Dr Pablo Javier Salamea Molina performed surgery to close the hole and Beatriz will be fine.
Aso shown is 2 year old Andres who was ready for his 3rd surgery to correct the burns he recieved over his chin and upper body. As you can see by the white skin there is great progress from Dr. Pablo's procedures.
Last is 14 year old Lizbeth from near little Banos, shown with her father. Lizbeth has scoliosis. Fortunately the curvature is less than the required curvature for surgery. Dr. Ochoa will continue to moniter her progress. HKIE has supplied imaging, 5 therapy sessions and a nuitrionist visit in the hopes of lessening the pressure on her spine.
All the families are grateful to the doctors, HKIE and our supporters for helping their children have a normal life.

Shown is 18 month old, super cute Jandry. He was referred to us by Rocio Illescas from CETAP-Lucy school.
He was born with 2 fingers on each hand and two toes on each foot fused together.
Dr. Pablo Salamea Molina performed a surgery Friday on one hand and foot. When those heal, he will do the same on the other side. Jandry will now grow up with full use of his hands and feet. He and his parents travel 7 hours by bus to get to Cuenca, but are so grateful to Dr Pablo, Hospital del Rio and HKIE for giving their son a chance for a normal life.
Also shown is 8 year old Belen who needed glasses for astigmatism in both eyes. Thanks to Exilaser for their help for our children.
Lastly is Victoria who was having severe pain in her feet while walking. After xrays, it was fortunately discovered all she needed were special orthotics for her shoes. She now can participate in her high school activities.
Three more children helped through the generosity of our donors and doctors

Helping Kids in Ecuador (HKIE) Child 363
This is 4 year old Luis Gabriel. His left ear was significantly larger and protruder more than his other ear. You can imagine the teasing he endured! This last week, Dr. Pablo Javier Salamea Molina perfomed osteoplasty on this young child to have his ears match.
This is the fifth child helped by the money raised by The Fishbon del Sur play.
Thanks to the donors, Dr Pablo and Hospital del Rio, little Luis will look and feel like the rest of his peers.

This is 3 month old Heller from Cuenca, who was obviously born with a severe cleft lip. The second picture is just a day after surgery and already one can see he will now have the gift of normal speech and looks.
This is the 4th child helped by the donation from Fishbone del Sur's play. Thanks to them and all those who supported their effort, there is a very happy family and child.
Of course Dr. Pablo Salamea Molina waived his fee and Hospital del Rio again gave us a wonderful discount.

Our friend, Susan Burke March, met a young Peace Corps volunteer, Caroline Parker and Susan told her about HKIE. Caroline told Susan about a young boy with a disability that didn't allow him to have a normal life like his family and friends. Susan told Caroline to contact us and ask if we could help.
Here is his story.
This is 7 year old David Alexander who lives out near "little" Banos. He has a rare form of Cerebral Palsy and can only walk a few feet without falling unless someone walks with him holding his hand. As you can imagine, this is very frustrating for him.
HKE got him this walker for stability and also a bike helmet to protect his head when he does fall. Look out world, here he comes!
As you can see by his smile,those two little items made his day!
David Alexander and his family are very thankful for the supporters of HKIE for improving the quality of his life

​First shown with Glasses in his mom's arms is 3 year old Jordan from the coast above Salinas. His mother was ill during pregnancy and he needed an intercranial MRI to rule out hydrocephaly. Thankfully the test came out negative.
7 year old Mathias was born with severely protruding ears. You can imagine the teasing he got from the other children. Dr Pablo performed a surgery that pulled his ears back along his head. He and his family are so pleased he will no longer be teased!
Last is 2 year old Justin who just this past week had his severe cleft palate repaired by Dr. Pablo. Now he can grow up able to speak and eat properly.
Both surgeries were performed at Hospital de Rio.
Thanks to the doctors and our supporters, three more children have a chance at a better life!

This is David Alexander who turns 10 in 2 days. He was born with a severe hearing loss.The family lives in a small community (San Francisco) in the Amazon region about a 10 hour bus ride from Cuenca. We were contacted by Rocio of Cetap Lucy and made an appointment for a hearing test with Dr. Diego Maldonado at Hospital del Rio. He called around to get us the best deal on David's hearing aids.
As you can tell by the photo, he was so excited to be hearing. He is now very excited to get back to the classroom.
Thanks to Dr. Diego, Salud Audativa and our supporters, this young man will have a much brighter future!

Pictured is 2 month old Isabel.Just after birth she developed a severe infection in her nose. After many days in neonatal ICU the infection was finally stopped, however much of her nose was destroyed by the infection.
Yesterday Isabel underwent the first of several surgeries to reconstruct her nose with doctors Pablo Salamea and Diego Maldonado (ENT), Dr Jonathan Cordero AND Dra Maria Siguencia at Hospital del Rio. They constructed a temporary prosthesis to begin the formation of the interior of her nose before performing reconstructive surgery on the outer area. Fortunately this will all be done before she will be looking in the mirror.
Four very talented doctors teamed up to give Isabel a much brighter future!
Isabel will grow up with a beautiful nose and will be able to breath normally. What a huge improvement in her quality of life!!
Thank you Dr Pablo, Dr Maldonado, Dr Cordero and Dra Siquencia!!
Her parents are deeply greatful to benefit from the skills of these four doctors and very thankful for our HKIE donors' generosity.
All four doctors waived their medical fees and the hospital gave HKIE a generous discount on the hospital costs.

Another child helped by Fishbon del Sur!
This is 2 year old Andres from the Cuenca area. Last year he was splashed with boiling hot water, resulting in severe burns on his chin, chest and upper arms. This week Dr Pablo performed the first surgery of several on the scars. The surgery was performed at Hospital del Rio. As a child grows, his scars do not, resulting in pulling and restriction in that area. AS you can see....he was not looking forward to this!
Andres is the third child helped from the money raised and donated by Fishbon del Sur. Thanks to Laura, Clay, cast members and attendees!

Pictured is 17 year old Kevin, born with spina bifida. He was given braces over 5 year ago but has obviously outgrown them since then. So he was spending most of his time in his wheelchair. HKIE and Protesis Ibabura got him fitted with new braces to enable him to walk comfortbly.
Our other child is 16 year old Ariel who was born missing the lower part of one leg. He comes from a little town outside of Ibarra, living alone with his infirm mother who is unable to work. He also needed an updated fitting as his leg had outgrown his old prosthesis. He is shown walking on his new leg.
Thanks to Protesis Imbabura and our loyal supporters, these two young men can again be independent.