This is 7 day old Maria Celeste. Maria was born with such a severe cleft lip, she was unable to eat or breathe efficiently.
Dra. Mariela Elisa Siguencia fashioned (under anesthesia) a special prosthetic for Maria Celeste's mouth that will enable her to drink and breathe until she reaches the age of 3 months. At that point Dr. Pablo Javier Salamea Molina
will be able to repair her cleft lip.
Thanks to Dra. Mariela, Hospital del Rio and all our supporters.

​First is little 2 year old Lian who suffered from a cleft palate. Dr.
Pablo Javier Salamea Molina
repaired the palate 2 weeks ago. Lian's mother is very happy her son was able to receive this corrective surgery.
Also treated is 2 year 4 month old Felix, shown with Dra.
Nicole Solano
, Dr. Pablo's assistant and also with his mother. Felix too had a cleft palate that Dr. Pablo repaired this past week.
Both boys can now grow up speaking correctly and not have the added problem of food going up into their nasal passages. Thanks to Dr. Pablo, Hospital del Rio, and our supporters, these two children will have the chance to lead normal, productive lives.
A huge thank you goes out to Hospital Del Rio for providing HKIE with significant discounts for both surgeries!

​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!

​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.

Two children who will grow up without the stigma of a cleft lip.
First is Stefano, a 3 month old from Machala (shown with his mother and father) and the other is 3 month old Yerek. Stefano, after surgery, was not a happy camper but he will be! Both families are so very grateful to HKIE and our supporters AND Dr. Pablo Salamea Molina and Hospital del Rio for allowing their boys a chance to have a normal life!

Remember our Super Bowl Party? Well, thanks to Jennifer Cory, Jim Cory, Brian Hitsky, Robin Littlepage and Brad Littlepage and all the great folks who partipated and bid on the raffle, two little girls are in the process of gaining a better life!
Yesterday Little 18 day old Angelita from Cotocachi was fitted for a mouth prosthesis by Dra Mariela Siguencia. This will enable her to eat and drink correctly until she can have her cleft lip surgery in about 3 months. Dr Pablo Salamea attended to explain the surgery process and also ordered serveral tests to evaluate her health.
Last week Dra Mariela created a prosthesis for 9 year old Sarahi from Machala.Her cleft palate had never been repaired and at 9 years old she is unable to speak. The prosthesis ( think of our old style retainers ! ) fits tight against her palate...she is beginning speech therapy and will have her palate repaired soon.
Thank you Dra Mariela Elisa Siguencia, Dr Pablo Javier Salamea Molina, Hospital del Rio and all our donors who make these little miracles happen

Shown is Yesly, a 3 month old from Loja, with her mother. Yesly had a severe cleft lip; in fact Dr. Pablo Javier Salamea Molina said it was one of his more difficult cases! The family spent several days at our Emaus House to rest and ensure all was well. Thankfully this little girl will grow up without the stigma of a severe cleft lip!
Also is Juan Carlos, a 14 year old who lost both eyes to hereditary glaucoma at a very young age. Dra. Mariela Elisa Siguencia created a prosthetic eye of which he is very proud. Unfortunately we were only able to provide him with one eye, as a prosthetic in the other proved too painful. Never the less he is one happy young man, as you can see from the photo.
Thanks to Dr. Pablo, Dra Mariela, and all our HKIE supporters, two more children's lives were changed for the better.
Also, a huge thank you goes out to Hospital del Rio for providing HKIE with a signiciant discount!

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.

​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!

Helping Kids in Ecuador (HKIE) Update
Pictured is little Victor....before his cleft lip surgery 2 1/2 years ago and now. We don't often get a chance to see many of the children after they have had their surgeries and gone on with their lives. These photos show what an incredible difference your donations can make in a child's life.