Dear Friends:
I’m sending this letter to our growing project partnership circle as an update on the Elkin Fonseca Zapata medical care trip to Pittsburgh—which we now expect to begin in early May. For those in the group who are fairly new and may not clearly understand how all the pieces fit together, I will begin with a brief description of the background on how we met Elkin and learned of his serious health condition.
My company, innerCHANGE associates international (iCHai), a limited liability company, works in partnership with businesses, educational and healthcare institutions, governmental and non-governmental organizations, and communities to develop their human resources through understanding, valuing, and leveraging cultural differences. Within its humanitarian program division, iCHai engages skilled associates and critical partners to manage sustainable and culturally appropriate humanitarian development programs and projects. In this capacity, iCHai is coordinating the many partnership activities involved in bringing Elkin to the U.S.
Children, Health, Education, and Supporting Services (CHESS) is one of the major new initiatives of iCHai’s humanitarian program division. CHESS aims to assist the municipality of Villa El Carmen, Nicaragua in achieving community empowerment through improved primary school education and health. In partnership with the USAID Alliance Program for Education and Health, Gran Pacifica Nicaragua and Rotary Clubs and Rotary International, as well as other non-profit organizations. iCHai coordinates activities in support of 12 targeted communities of Villa El Carmen in the following key program areas: community health education workshops; continuing English language education for teachers; health and safety improvements, library programs, and cultural heritage education projects for the primary schools; and educational programs for pre-school teachers and children.
Our CHESS team in Nicaragua includes Ligia Diaz De Roman, Education Program Manager for Nicaragua; Manuel Roman Lacayo, Anthropological and Cultural Heritage Consultant for Nicaragua; and Helio Alfaro, a teacher in Villa El Carmen and Outreach Coordinator for Gran Pacifica. In the U.S., Joanne Russell is iCHai’s Director of Humanitarian Programs, and I am the overall Project Director for CHESS.
The CHESS team first met Elkin and his grandmother in October, 2006, while working at one of our schools in Villa El Carmen. We arranged for Elkin to be examined by a doctor in Managua, and it was clear that he needed further medical attention in the U.S. so he could return to school and begin to lead the normal life of an 8-year old boy. Immediately, the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh pledged its support for “the Elkin Project” and will be covering the necessary support expenses for Elkin and his grandmother in Pittsburgh this spring. For its part, Gran Pacifica has been an indispensable on-the-ground partner, providing logistical and staff support as well as covering nominal local expenses.
This past January, at a Gran Pacifica Shareholders meeting in Managua, we arranged for Dr. Edward Barksdale to visit Elkin in his rural village of Villa El Carmen. Dr. Barksdale determined that Elkin needed to come to Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh for medical evaluation to determine whether tracheal surgery could be possible. Subsequently, Children’s Hospital’s CEO, Roger Oxendale, agreed to cover the evaluation and medical procedures.
Since mid-January, we have built a wonderful partnership of organizations in both the U.S. and in Nicaragua to make this trip for Elkin and his grandmother a reality. Since so many people have volunteered time and services to address the many details necessary to make this dream a possibility, let me summarize what has happened since then in planning and preparing for this journey.
1. Jackie Martinez, Esq., JBM Immigration Services, drafted official letters from partners to the U.S. Ambassador in Nicaragua, and letters to be shared among the project partners—the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh, Gran Pacifica in Nicaragua, the Airline Ambassadors International Program, the American Airlines Miles for Kids in Need Program, and innerCHANGE associates international.
2. Mark Miner, president of Mark Miner Communications and a member of the Beaver Rotary Club, produced an introductory video presentation featuring Dr. Ed Barksdale, Dr. Robert Yellon, Dr. Diego Chaves-Gnecco, and the Family Life Support Center playroom of Children’s Hospital.
3. We sent this video to Nicaragua where Ligia, Manuel and Helio have shown it to Elkin, his grandmother Miriam, his father Hugo, and some of the family members. The family now feels much more comfortable after the visual introduction to the physicians and the medical staff and the hospital setting. Elkin’s reaction is that he can’t wait to play with the toys in the play room, especially with Spider Man!
4. Ligia has purchased, through support from Gran Pacifica, the medication necessary to prepare Elkin for his assessment and possible surgery at Children’s in a few weeks.
5. Manuel has worked with the Nicaraguan authorities to obtain passports for Elkin and his grandmother so they can travel and return to Nicaragua. Manuel has also been working with a Nicaraguan lawyer to set up the procedures to transfer legal guardianship from Hugo, the father, to Miriam, the grandmother, for this medical trip. He has provided the official translation service for this document as well.
6. Through recommendation from Jackie Martinez, we have been working with Senator Arlen Specter’s office and Bill Bayer, Deputy Director of Senator Specter’s Pittsburgh Regional Office, to set up visa interviews for Elkin and his grandmother with the American consulate in Managua. We also arranged for official letters from each of the partners to U.S. Ambassador Trivelli. Given the urgency of the situation, Bill Bayer was able to expedite the interview, which took place on March 21. Manuel was with them through this interview for support plus linguistic and cultural translation. The visa interview was successful—both Elkin and his grandmother have the required official documents to travel to the U.S. and return to Nicaragua.
7. Simultaneously, I have been working since January with the Airline Ambassadors International Program (AAI) and the American Airlines Miles for Kids in Need Program to generate the required documents to secure airfare for the two to travel to the U.S. These include letters from Children’s Hospital, letters from the project partners, and a letter from the Rotary Club of Pittsburgh Foundation confirming its non-profit, 501(c)(3) status. Manuel and Ligia have been working in Nicaragua to provide the documents on the legal guardianship, letters from the Nicaraguan medical institutions describing Elkin’s medical history and officially referring him to Children’s Hospital, and confirming that Elkin is in good physical condition to make this trip. The paperwork from both the Nicaraguan and the U.S. sides is now complete and submitted to the American Airlines Miles for Kids in Need. As of Friday, April 6, we have been approved by the program, and we can now begin making travel arrangements according to their directions.
8. We are aiming to bring Elkin and Miriam to Pittsburgh by May 1, with Elkin’s evaluation tentatively scheduled for May 2. Becky Milano, an American Airlines attendant and an American Airlines Ambassador escort, has been working closely with me to set up a trip to Nicaragua prior to the travel dates for Elkin and his grandmother so that escort services can be provided for them on their trip.
9. Dr. Carl Ross, Professor at the School of Nursing at Robert Morris University, and his family, who have worked on medical missions in Nicaragua for over 10 years, have offered to provide housing in their home for the time that Elkin and his grandmother are in Pittsburgh (which may be several weeks if surgery is performed). There is a volunteer driving service available within their church to get them back and forth to Children’s during their stay and treatment. Carl and his family will be returning from a Spring break on May 1 and will be prepared to welcome the two Nicaraguan guests into their home at that time.
10. In partnership with Nancy Rivard and Dave Douglas of the Airline Ambassadors International Program (AAI), Manuel and I are organizing an airline volunteer project in Managua. This will be the first service trip of what is planned to be a series of volunteer trips to Nicaragua related to our CHESS project in Villa El Carmen. This 4-day service project is being planned to precede Elkin’s flight to Pittsburgh. Becky Milano and I, plus 2 or 3 other AAI volunteers, will be working in Nicaragua after which we will escort and accompany Elkin and his grandmother to Pittsburgh.
What a team effort this has been as the community of Pittsburgh has reached out to offer health and quality of life support to a child, his family, and a community in a Nicaragua. Thank you to everyone who has been or will become involved in this medical outreach project. As Carl Ross’s 16 year old son told him recently, “we’re counting the days until Elkin arrives!”
More updates will follow as this project progresses.
With regards,
Janet Foerster
