Our protégés

The one-and-a-half-year-old Samanta  is our newest protégé. She was born with out a left forearm. Samanta's grandma, Carman Lozano, wrote us a letter and asked for our support.

We have decided to raise the sum to pay for the prosthesis and the therapy to allow Samanta a life that is as unrestrained as possible..

Joel is five years old. His family is indigenous and lives in Guaranda (1,5 hours from Riobamba). Joel got injured in an accident with a car in February 2011 on his way to school with two friends. His friends were lucky, but Joel's leg was overrun by the car. Joel was immediately taken to the children's hospital Baca Ortiz. Despite the doctors' intensive efforts the leg could not be saved.

Thanks to generous donations and the returns from the sale of waffles and the charity concert we were able to pay for the prosthesis for Joel and to assure the financing of the therapy. By now Joel is already exercising with his prosthesis.

Thanks to the donations by das Ohr Konstanz and Widex, as well as the Ecuadorian otolaryngologist Dr. Rodriguo Castrillon we are able to support several aurally handicapped children with hearing aids. Thus they can attend school and participate in class. For this project we cooperate closely with the foundation of the voluntary ladies, who provide the required batteries and pay the travel costs to the hospital.

Robinson Bone is an eight-year-old boy and got a hearing aid in January 2011. He lives in Muisne at the Ecuadorian coast. Due to his aural handicap he was not doing well at school.	Dylan Carlosama is three years old, he is from Quito and was given a hearing aid in February 2011.	Like Dylan, John Aussay is from Quito. He is seven years old and wears a hearing aid since February 2011.
Mayquel Rodriguez is 12 years old and comes from Cayambe, a town in the Ands in the north of Quito. He has got his hearing aid since December 2010.	Byron Aguirre Espin is from Quito, too. He is 17 years old and lives in the district Carapungo. Since he got his hearing aid in November 2010 he was able to attend school again.	Jorge is an eleven-year-old boy from Ambato. His family is very because the father left the family and the mother has to feed two children. Due to his hearing impairment Jorge had only few friends and was ostracized in his class. Jorge got two hearing aids.<
Edison, born on the 12/12/1998, is also from Ambato. He is hard of hearing since the sixth month. Edison has a disabled brother and his father died of cancer. Due to his hearing impairment he had to repeat the last class. Edison now has hearing aids in both ears.	The four-year-old Kerly comes from Lago Agrio in the rain forest. She has a two-sided hardness of hearing. Kerly cannot speak yet but she is in therapy.	Edison was born on the 7th of October 1997 and comes from the jungle town Tena. His family did not have the financial means to buy him a hearing aid.
Jennifer is four years old and comes from Machachi. Her family is very poor because her parents are young and unemployed. The girl is hard of hearing since birth due to the malnutrition of the mother during pregnancy. Still the family holds together and is optimistic. Jennifer seems to cope well with the hearing aid.

Darlin is ten years old and hails from the province Pichincha. In May 2010 he climbed the roof-deck to play there. There he came into contact with the high-voltage line holding a stick in his hand. As a result of the burns he suffered from the shock, the doctors  had to amputate his right arm and left leg. Darlin's right leg could be saved and his momentary state of health is stable. He attends classes in a school centre and gets psychotherapy.
Due to the success of our christmas stall and several donations we have been enabled to transfer the necessary sum for Darlin's prostheses and to set up a reserve for the follow-up therapy. Darlin got the prostheses and thanked for the support in a letter.

Dayana is six years old and comes from Guallabambame, about 29 km east of Quito. At the moment she visits the second class of the San-Francisco primary school in Quito. A year ago Dayana was hit and injured by a falling cable, while playing with her brother and friends. The fire service administered first aid and brought her into the children’s hospital Baca-Ortiz. Nonetheless, Dayana lost her left hand to the accident. She wrote us a letter because she needed our help to finance her prosthesis.
We succeeded in raising the money for her prosthesis and the therapy

Dorian is ten years old and lives with his family in Quito. He attends the Saulo-School of the parish Calderon in San José de Moran. In March 2010 he was on the roof-deck with his cousin who pegged out washing. The boy wanted to play "oath of allegiance" and therefore grasped a curtain pole. In doing so he was hit by an electric shock and suffered bad burns. He lost two toes of his right foot. In the hospital they had to amputate also his right hand. As his family is poor Dorian and his father asked us for help. We decided to finance a hand prothesis and the therapy.
Dorian has got his prothesis and exercises himself in using it. He does so with enthusiasm and expresses hope and reliance into the future.

Nataly is ten years ol and comes from the Southern part of Quito. The neighborhood “La Lucha de los Probres” is inhabited by the poor part of the capital’s population. Last year she played with friends on the roof. There all the main power lines run non-isolated and non-fused. While climbing a metal stair up to the roof, she received a strong electric shock. She was immediately admitted to the hospital Baca-Ortiz. First one leg, later also the other leg and one arm had to be amputated, because she had sustained heavy burns, from which she would otherwise have died.
At first she went to the hospital for treatment three times a week, learning to use a wheel chair and build up muscles. She learned to write with her left hand.
To finance the prostheses we cooperated with the Red Cross. While the Red Cross financed the leg prostheses, our society was able to raise – thanks to immense support – the money for the arm prosthesis. After the fitting of the prostheses had been delayed for some months, because Nataly growed considerably, she finally got her arm prosthesis. Nataly continues her physical therapy and the psychotherapy

Morelia was the reason, we started our society. Her home is in the Ecuadorean jungle in the East of the country. There she was bitten by a snake. At first, her parents did not have the money and the means to bring her to the hospital, and it thus was already too late, when she arrived in the hospital. She remained several months in the infectology, but the leg had to be amputated. She is now unable to work and thus unable to contribute to society. Unfortunately, on November 5^th we received the information that Morelia’s parents do not agree to the medical procedure. Our contact person Patricia Peñaherrera writes, “because of the customs of her tribe our parents decided against it. We must accept this decision, even if it is difficult.”

Steven is 13 years old and comes from Rio Bamba, a village approx. 200 km South of Quito. In his family’s hut he came in contact with the power line that is located over the sink. This led to burns all over this body, for which he remained nearly one and a half months in the burn center of the children’s hospital, when the doctors had to amputate his left arm and left leg. The boy wanted to give up seeing no future prospects, but his parents  remained with him for whole three months until their son was released. Before they went home for the time being, they asked Philippa for help, since it was impossible for them to pay for the prostheses. Philippa promised to do whatever lay in her power. 

Steven im Juli 2008

Steven im Mai 2009

With the incredible help of approx. 300 donations we were able to finance not only Steve’s leg prostheses, but also his arm prostheses. By now Steve has gotten used to his prostheses: He can walk without help, even climb chairs, play volleyball, ride a bike, and go to school. Even though he takes off his arm prostheses at times, he can handle it very well and, for instance, operate a computer. Steven and his parents are overjoyed. In May, Kolja had the opportunity to meet Steven and his family and to satisfy herself of his positive development.


Steven, seine Familie, Patricia (ganz rechts) und Kolja (zweite von links) im Mai 2010

Aufgrund seines Wachstums war bei Steven im Frühjahr 2011 eine Anpassung seiner Prothese notwendig. Dank der Rücklagen, die durch die Spendenaktion zu seinen Gunsten gebildet wurden, konnten wir den notwendigen Betrag überweisen.