Sponsors Meet Godchild After 12 Years!

Below is a reflection written by Mary Waldmann regarding the impact meeting her godchild had on her life

In 2002, we began sponsoring four-year-old Boris at NPH Guatemala. Over the next 12 years we exchanged drawings (his), photos and letters. Sometimes it was a little frustrating when letters weren�t very detailed or responsive to questions, but we kept at it. In July 2014 we were fortunate enough to travel to NPH Guatemala with a Seattle group, with the primary goal of meeting Boris. I was prepared for him to be a little standoffish since he�d never met us and and was now a 16-year-old teenager...and I�ll admit I was a little nervous. The first afternoon we arrived, Donna Egge was giving us a brief familiarization tour of the grounds when she spotted Boris on a balcony and called to him. In a flash, he was down the stairs wrapping his arms around me. As he planted a big kiss on my cheek, it really hit me just what a significant role godparents play in the lives of the pequenos. At that moment I was so glad I�d kept up our correspondence, even when it was challenging. And I was so grateful to finally meet the wonderful young man that little Boris has become. Over the next week we were able to spend a lot of time with him and learned much, much more about him. With his smattering of English, our smattering of Spanish, some help in translation and a lot of smiles and gestures, we were able to communicate pretty well and our correspondence will be much richer for it.

To those who are not yet sponsors, I can tell you what a difference you can make in a child�s life�please consider becoming a godparent. If you already sponsor a child, please consider visiting your godchild�it will be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life!

Holy Family Surgery Center Medical Brigade at NPH Honduras

Doctors, nurses, medical students, along with various people from many other walks of life traveled to NPH Honduras from April 12-19th to drastically change the lives of hundreds of people by providing necessary medical support for both the children on the Ranch and the outside community that otherwise would be left neglected. The Holy Family Surgery Center is a godsend for the poorest of the poor in Honduras because they are not only provided with access to healthcare, but they are also treated with the dignity that they, as humans, deserve. Stepping inside Hospital Escuela, the public hospital in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, gives a sense of how desperately this is needed. The chaotic, dangerous, and underfunded hospital cannot provide efficient or even effective support to those most in need. If someone needed any type of surgery�after arriving at Hospital Escuela, they would first be required to go across the street and purchase the proper equipment. To those struggling, this is an extra burden and often impossibility. 


Kate Clitheroe, the coordinator for the Holy Family Surgery Center that volunteers at NPH Honduras wrote the following, �During the April Medical Brigade, a group of more than 40 medical professionals came here to the NPH home in Honduras. These specialists (orthopedics, gynecology, ENT, and general surgery) gave consults to over 700 patients and preformed 94 surgeries. Many of these consults were for members of the NPH family and at least 10 surgeries were performed on NPH children and employees. The community members here, our neighbors, give thanks to the physicians, the Daly Family, and everyone who helped during this medical brigade.� 


Here is a brief interview with one woman�s whose life and family were drastically impacted by this wonderful work.

This experience not only impacts the lives of those in Honduras, but it also touches those who participate. Below are reflections from two of the participants from the April Brigade: 


I think this was my 6th or 7th brigade to the Holy Family Surgery Center at the NPH site in Honduras. Each trip brings its own unique challenges and rewards. It�s amazing how far we�ve come from those first brigades when only a few surgical cases were performed. On our latest brigade we performed nearly 100 surgeries and saw 800 patients in clinic, truly staggering numbers. It�s remarkable to witness how people come together over the course of the week to become an effective, efficient team. Folks with no medical background pitch in to become valuable team members, students contribute their youth and enthusiasm, and the long-term volunteers inspire us all with their dedication. Importantly, all this surgical/medical activity is set against the backdrop of the �Ranch:� 300+ children at once smiling, crying, laughing, failing, and succeeding. Each child has their own story to share and inspire us in turn. It�s these children that continue to motivate me to be better, try harder, and return time after time. 


-Michael Forseth, MD 


The Blue Flame 
Traveling the world as a missionary evangelist, my partner was a gifted minister & very successful businessman. We always kept an eye out for people, causes, & missions to support that could qualify as "blue flamers" - called such because that�s the cleanest, most efficient part of a gas fueled flame. Ministries that qualify are surprisingly hard to find. 


So to experience NPH Honduras - the ranch, and surgery center - was a revelation. A self-sufficient ranch, using resources wisely, a home for orphans that is their family rather than a holding tank for adoption. 


Children receiving an academic education as well as being offered not just the spoken word of God, but His love in action. 


A surgery center that is doing more than healing individuals, it is building community. 


Biggest blue flame I've ever seen! 


I went as a volunteer, came home a supporter.


XO, Randy Cleary

Mesi, kembe La, kontinie travay pou popilasyon an...

Read this story of hope and recovery reported by Dieuveck Rosembert, Communications Officer at NPFS Haiti about little Lea's overcoming Cholera with the help of the St. Luc Rehydration Center.


Carme-suse Resil heads on her way out of the hospital after spending a grueling night sitting by her seven-year-old daughter's side, Lea Basile. Lea came home from school one day recently feeling sick and because Carme-suse couldn't afford a doctor's visit, she followed some home remedies for little Lea. Her symptoms  though only got worse, and she was dangerously dehydrated, and her skin was pale. Her neighbor soon drove her and Lea to the St. Luc Rehydration Center. 


Once at the hospital, the physicians immediately started Lea on an intravenous drip to put serum into her body to fight the dehydration caused by the Cholera, which is what they ultimately determined had affected her. Oral rehydration fluid was the next part of the recovery process. 


While Lea sat on her lap, Carme-suse looked confused as she tried to figure out when, how and where her daughter was infected. "I don't know if it was at school or at home. Perhaps, the plastic bottle I fill up for her lunch every morning was not clean," she said. At home, they use treated water to drink and water purchased from a truck for bathing, washing dishes, utensils and clothes. "The bacteria could have come from that water." It was easy to read the expression on her face that showed concern for her other 6-month-old child at home. 


Of course, the water on the truck was not treated. Carme-suse assumed that because she wasn't using the untreated water for drinking and cooking, her family was safe. She was alarmed and enlightened by her visit to the hospital. Untreated water should not be used for bathing, showering, brushing teeth or washing dishes.  


Lea was prescribed several medications that Carme-suse could not have afforded anywhere else. One of them was the oral serum that would help reverse the dehydration. The second was the Metronidasol�an antibiotic to fight the Cholera infection. She was also prescribed Zinc to help reduce the irritation and inflammation to the intestines. Carme-suse repeated several times that she could never have afforded another hospital. 


St Luc Rehydration Center provided the medical care and medication her daughter needed free of charge. When asked for a final thought to close the interview, she said that the staff treated her and her daughter with respect and courtesy. She wanted to tell St Luc Rehydration Center, "Mesi, kembe La, kontinie travay pou popilasyon an."�"Thank you, stay firm and continue helping the population."

Helping the kids to see at Rancho Santa Fe...

Below is a story about the awesome work of great Friends, Mary Lou and Leo Hundt from the SE Region. They recently made a trip to Honduras and helped our kids in a huge way!!! Read on!


Entering into Honduras with the autorefractor went very smooth. When we got to the ranch we unpacked it and set it up to make sure it was working. On Friday we saw 43 girls from the ranch who needed 18 pairs of glasses. On the second day we saw 92 boys who needed 19 pairs of glasses. The third day we saw 77 adults from the surrounding area who needed 56 pairs of glasses. In the following three weeks, we will be making those 89 pairs of glasses with the help of Sally & Richard VanBuskirk and Bob Indre. (All these glasses were later taken to the DR when the Hundt's made their trip there for the International Family Weekend, and they were then transported to Rancho Santa Fe.)


We had wonderful folks to work with while we were doing the eye exams. The VanBuskiek's are outstanding people to volunteer with as both Richard and Sally have so much knowledge about the equipment as well as doing eye exams. Heather Ann Brook, the volunteer nurse, was also outstanding and she will train the new volunteer nurse, Jennifer Cox, so that eye exams at the ranch will continue. The young people that worked with us everyday were Johanna, Belki and Diana; everyone should be so proud of these young people.


What a wonderful time we all had! 


-Mary Lou Hundt


Thank you so very much to the Hundt's and all their support for our kids!