We are writing from sunny Iquique, Peru, an amazing vacation spot on the northern Chilean coast. The last few days have been very eventful with trips to Rurrenabaque, a small town in the Amazon jungle, the Bolivian pampas region (savannah), and finally to northern Chile. More to come on those experiences later...
We spent an exhausting but rewarding and exhilirating final 4 days in Cochabamba last Wednesday - Saturday. On the way to the burn center on Wednesday morning we scribbled down the following to-do list on a napkin we found stuck in the seat:
1. Pay Juan Carlos´s medical bill in its entirety
2. Purchase mechanical ventilator for burn center
3. Purchase flat screen televisions and mount them on the walls in the childrens´rooms in the burn center
4. Arrange post-Cochabamba travel plans
5. Spend quality time with the children in the burn center
6. Visit the Albergue Orphanage for burned children
7. Prepare for visit to Cochabamba by Dr. Elliott Chen, plastic surgeon from the USC School of Medicine
In somewhat miraculous fashion, we checked off our final box on Friday afternoon upon the arrival of Dr. Chen to Cochabamba. A few details about each task:
1. Juan Carlos is a child currently residing in the burn center who has been there for nearly 4 months following a significant gas explosion in his home. He received third degree burns to over half his body including his face, ears, arms, legs, and torso. His chances of survival upon arrival were minimal and no one expected him to live for more than a few days. Four months later, he is bouncing around the burn center, blowing through his rehabilitation regimen, and winning over every last heart in the place. He still has mountains to climb as he will need multiple reconstructive surgeries in the future; this, however, takes nothing away from that which he has already accomplished: a chance at a normal life following a near devestating injury.
Juan Carlos´s family is extremely poor and were recently served with a $4,000 (USD) medical bill, an amount that far surpasses that on which they live in a year, or more like 5 years. When we heard his story and were presented with his financial situation we immediately began inquiring about ways to help. Juan Carlos´s father was able to come up with $300 on his own, a feat in itself, and Dr. Romero negotiated with the hospital to decrease the remainder of the bill to $2,000 by telling them "accept this or get nothing at all." The hospital agreed and after hours of running from office to office and bank to bank, the three of us finally handed over 14,000 Bolivianos, the equivalent of $2000, and in return received gracious and overwhelming thanks for the staff and hospital who have come to adore this incredible child. With a clean financial profile, Juan Carlos is now cleared to continue receiving care in the burn center and to be eligible for the reconstructive surgeries he now requires.
2. & 3. The entirety of the day Thursday was devoted to finalizing the purchase of a mechanical ventilator to the burn center and making other much needed donations to benefit the children. After meeting with the ventilator vendor, we all piled in a taxi and made our way to the bank where we wire transferred $8,500 to his account, finalizing what has been a 4-month process. The ventilator was set to be delivered to the burn center the following day and be fully operational the following week. To read more about this donation and its need, go to http://www.ms4bcv.org/1/?p=284
As mentioned in our last blog post, we identified a serious lack of entertainment of the most critically ill patients who spend each day bound to their beds with nothing to do. By midday Thursday, having just completed the sale of the ventilator, we found ourselves in the middle of the Cancha, South America´s largest open-air market, shopping for flat screen televisions. The Cancha is no BestBuy and the TV vendors are intermixed between stalls selling anything from soccer jerseys to empanadas. We found a trustworthy vendor and before we knew it we had purchased two 32´televisions and were arranging for them to be installed on the walls of the burn center that evening. Josh and I, after visiting the Albergue Children´ orphanage for burned children (Item 6 - Check!) went back to the burn center to await the technician who would install the TV´s. He was, of course, 45 minutes late which conveniently gave us time to spend with the children. As soon as he walked in with the televisions the room errupted in chatter and the children began chanting "Tele! Tele!" They watched in amazement (along with Josh and me) as the televisions made their way from the boxes to the wall, and the excitement was palpable and contagious. Josh and I literally felt like kids on Christmas and I think I finally have a true appreciation for "Santa Claus" and the joy he represents. At 10 PM, 3 hours after the technician arrived, 8 hours after the TVs were purchased, and 14 hours after the day began, Josh and I left the burn center and met Daniel, having spend hours with the children, easily the most meaningful hours of this trip to-date (Item 5 - check!).
We hurriedly scheduled our post-Cochabamba plans, simply purchasing plane tickets and vowing to figure the rest out when we arrived at our destinations, and began preparing for Dr. Chen´s visit the next morning. More to come on that when we return to the US - there is much to tell about his visit and how it may shape the future of MS4BCI.
Thank you so much for everything that all of you have done to make these donations possible. We left the burn center without a shred of doubt that we were leaving it a better place than before we arrived. This was exactly the goal we had in mind when we started MS4BCI three years ago and to be a direct part of accomplishing it (with TONS of help of course) is among the most rewarding endeavors of which we´ve ever been a part.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Burn Center Update
Today is Wednesday and our time in Cochabamba is rapidly winding down. This short post is meant to update you about the children currently being treated in the burn center in the hopes of giving you an idea of the nature of their injuries and the mechanisms by which they occur.
14 year old girl, burned via a natural gas explosion in the kitchen of the family for whom she worked as a nanny. She received burns to her face, both arms, and both legs and for the majority of last week was completely bedridden and hardly able to move. Today we walked in the burn center to find her up in a wheelchair working with a physical therapist and, to our pleasant surprise, smiling.
3 year old girl, just arrived in the burn center today with second degree burns to her buttocks from scalding water. She likely fell backwards into a pot of boiling water or was intentionally placed there. This type of injury is unfortunately often a sign of child abuse. She too is currently bedridden and will undergo multiple wound debridements over the coming days.
Three separate 3-5 year olds, all of whom received 2nd degree burns to their faces, torsos, arms, and legs due to either water or soup that was spilled on them when they reached up and grabbed the pot in which the liquid was boiling. All are currently bedridden and restrained to prevent them from touching and contaminating their open wounds. They will all require similar debridements.
11 year old boy who worked for a power company (at age 11!) and was severely electrocuted by a live wire. He received 3rd degree burns to his right arm and both legs and will require weeks to months of intensive surgical intervention and physical therapy. Miraculously, he is already walking and seems to be improving far faster than one would expect.
5 year old boy who was playing with an alcohol of some sort when it ignited and caused third degree burns to his left leg. We participated in his skin graft placement two days ago and he too is currently bedridden.
There are 4-5 more children who are enduring similar burn injuries and who are being incredibly well taken care of similar to the children noted above.
One of the most difficult aspects for us has been watching the most severely injured children endure intense pain without sedation, spending the entire day in bed with little to no entertainment. Many of the children´s parents try to come by, but visiting hours last only for an hour during lunch, and even then many of the parents are not able to make it due to geographical or financial constraints. It´s such a tough situation for the kids - could you imagine lying in bed almost all day staring at a grey slate wall with nothing to take your mind off your pain? We have been brainstorming trying to think of ways to distract and even entertain the patients, but it can be pretty difficult when the kids are restrained in bed or when both their arms are completely encased in bandages. At this point we agreed that the best bet to help in this way is to purchase 2 flat screen televisions that will be mounted on the walls of the rooms with the most immobile patients. We´re scrambling to do so, but accomplishing such a task in Bolivia in 3 days may well be a God-like feat - With our free time later this afternoon we went by several electronic stores but they were all closed; we finally found one open but they said they couldn´t sell us anything until Friday, and didn´t even know how much their TVs cost! At any rate we´re going to try our hardest.
More to come tomorrow about another donation we completed today...
Thanks for the continued prayers, both for us and for the incredible children with whom we are working!
14 year old girl, burned via a natural gas explosion in the kitchen of the family for whom she worked as a nanny. She received burns to her face, both arms, and both legs and for the majority of last week was completely bedridden and hardly able to move. Today we walked in the burn center to find her up in a wheelchair working with a physical therapist and, to our pleasant surprise, smiling.
3 year old girl, just arrived in the burn center today with second degree burns to her buttocks from scalding water. She likely fell backwards into a pot of boiling water or was intentionally placed there. This type of injury is unfortunately often a sign of child abuse. She too is currently bedridden and will undergo multiple wound debridements over the coming days.
Three separate 3-5 year olds, all of whom received 2nd degree burns to their faces, torsos, arms, and legs due to either water or soup that was spilled on them when they reached up and grabbed the pot in which the liquid was boiling. All are currently bedridden and restrained to prevent them from touching and contaminating their open wounds. They will all require similar debridements.
11 year old boy who worked for a power company (at age 11!) and was severely electrocuted by a live wire. He received 3rd degree burns to his right arm and both legs and will require weeks to months of intensive surgical intervention and physical therapy. Miraculously, he is already walking and seems to be improving far faster than one would expect.
5 year old boy who was playing with an alcohol of some sort when it ignited and caused third degree burns to his left leg. We participated in his skin graft placement two days ago and he too is currently bedridden.
There are 4-5 more children who are enduring similar burn injuries and who are being incredibly well taken care of similar to the children noted above.
One of the most difficult aspects for us has been watching the most severely injured children endure intense pain without sedation, spending the entire day in bed with little to no entertainment. Many of the children´s parents try to come by, but visiting hours last only for an hour during lunch, and even then many of the parents are not able to make it due to geographical or financial constraints. It´s such a tough situation for the kids - could you imagine lying in bed almost all day staring at a grey slate wall with nothing to take your mind off your pain? We have been brainstorming trying to think of ways to distract and even entertain the patients, but it can be pretty difficult when the kids are restrained in bed or when both their arms are completely encased in bandages. At this point we agreed that the best bet to help in this way is to purchase 2 flat screen televisions that will be mounted on the walls of the rooms with the most immobile patients. We´re scrambling to do so, but accomplishing such a task in Bolivia in 3 days may well be a God-like feat - With our free time later this afternoon we went by several electronic stores but they were all closed; we finally found one open but they said they couldn´t sell us anything until Friday, and didn´t even know how much their TVs cost! At any rate we´re going to try our hardest.
More to come tomorrow about another donation we completed today...
Thanks for the continued prayers, both for us and for the incredible children with whom we are working!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
"One More Group"!
Once a year, 40 days before Easter, hundreds of thousands of Bolivians descend on the city of Oruro, a silver mining town situated in the Bolivian antiplano at a literally breathtaking altitude of 13,000 feet to celebrate Carnaval de Oruro. The silver deposits have long since been depleted and now the city, still home to nearly 400,000 people, is best known for this festival, a can´t miss cultural event for "gringos" who happen to be in the country in mid-February.
At the oppressive hour of 5:00 AM Saturday morning we boarded a bus and made the four-hour trip to Oruro to take part in the first day of this four-day celebration. This day consists of a staggeringly long parade in which groups made up of dancers donned in exquisite costumes proceed directly in front of and directly behind raucous brass bands that blare traditional Bolivian music with reckless, musical abandon. The 2.5 mile-long parade track winds through the city, every inch of which is lined by bleachers, 12-15 levels high, that are covered by colorful and tenuous tarps (ours was halfway collapsed by the end of the night) and are filled to the max with exuberant Bolivians and awestrucken gringos.
By some accounts, our introduction to this festival was unexpected and even a little harsh. Our guide miscalculated the exact location of our seats along the parade route and we were forced to walk along the side of parade track itself, vicariously placed between the rowdy crowd and the paraders themselves. It took a mere 15 seconds in this precarious location to be hit in the chest with a water balloon and a mere 3 minutes to be soaking wet and covered, nearly head-to-toe, in shaving cream. All of this was thanks to the good-natured crowd which possessed seemingling endless caches of water balloons, super soakers, and high pressured shaving cream cans and that ensured that we were properly welcomed and initiated by the time we arrived to our seats.
After settling into cramped seats on unforgiving, bound wooden 2x4´s we began to take in our surroundings. Groups of dancers and bands processed one after another, producing somewhat of a doppler effect that mirrored the emotion of the crowd: both the volume of music and the energy of the onlookers grew, peaked, and diminished as the bands and dancers came and went. As soon as the immediate vicinity was clear of paraders, water balloons flew in every direction, some of which landed on intentional targets but most of which doused innocent and unseeming onlookers, all of whom were legitimate targets on this day. It took less than 3 breaks in the action before we were on the hunt for water balloons to throw ourselves. A quick trip down a wooden ladder at the top of the bleachers took us to the sub-bleacher terrain, an area filled with enterprising locals selling anything from lukewarm Peceña beer to shaving cream cannons to water balloons. In short, a thriving sub-economy had been created for this event. Four Bolivianos later (equivalent to US $o.50), we were equipped with two bags of water balloons and we began picking out and picking off our targets. The process of descending the rickety wooden ladder, buying warm beer, using a local´s home bathroom for 1 Boliviano, and restocking on water balloons was one we undertook literally 20+ times throughout the day and it is safe to say that we hurled over 400 water balloons in total, dislocating our shoulders and adding to the mayhem that was Carnaval de Oruro.
By the time the afternoon rolled around, we began to anticipate the finale of what was already an overwhelmingly extravagant and impressive parade. Much to our surprise, the groups of bands and dancers kept coming as if being cranked out of an overworked parade machine whose switch was constitutively placed in the "ON" position. There was literally not one minute in the entire day during which we were not watching a group immediately in front of us or viewing one in the pipeline, minutes from our direct gaze. The afternoon sun, which for hours beat down on colorful streamers and created equally colorful shadows on the ground, eventually began to set and with it came a reciprocal elevation in the energy level of the crowd. Not a single festival-goer, present since dawn, had departed and even more people packed the stands, bringing with them more water balloons and shaving cream to add to the mix.
Around dinner time and in response to a nearly complete lack of blood flow to the overworked padding of our buttocks, we took a walking tour of Oruro and found the energy outside the parade to be just as high and contagious as that within the vibrant festival chute. More enterprising spirits lined the streets and the tragectories of water balloons and shaving cream could again be followed from their originators to their targets. As we walked along the outside of the parade track, we found the exact same scene time and time again: Bolivians dancing in their bleacher seats to the sound of the marching band and the jingle of bells attached to the dancer´s ornate costumes. The uniformity of the response to the parade was overwhelming and inspiring and directly reflects the love and respect these people share for their culture.
We eventually returned to our seats and got the immediate impression that we hadn´t missed much: the parade machine continued its diligent production of group after group of performers. In close conjuction with the now darkened sky and the ever more festive (and drunk) crowd, los grupos en fuegos emerged, bringing with them dancers donning fire-shooting helmets, jumbo-sized sparklers, and roman candles all set to the backdrop of a 15 foot-wide rope of some innocuous burning material, all of which created the impression of a group of devil dancers emerging from the fiery depths. With these groups came the greatest surges of energy in the crowd which began to take on the form of a raucous, carnal mob though one still deeply respectful of the traditions for which it was celebrating.
Our group´s promised 11 PM departure time came and went as the Bolivian operators, equally as mesmerized by the parade now as they were upon our arrival 13 hours ago, insisted that we stay for "one more group"! One group turned into two groups which turned into five groups and by 12:30 we were finally crossing the parade track towards the exit. This time, however, our trek was free of assault by water balloons and shaving cream, partially because these activities had ceased hours ago but also in part, or so we´d like to think, because we´d now been initiated in the ways of the Bolivian culture. The increased respect we now possessed for the people and their traditions made us worthy of a peaceful walk out. That, and because we´d proven ourselves to be a pretty good shot and we wouldn´t hesitate one bit to throw a water balloon right back.
-Will Bynum
Josh, Will, and Daniel in Oruro
At the oppressive hour of 5:00 AM Saturday morning we boarded a bus and made the four-hour trip to Oruro to take part in the first day of this four-day celebration. This day consists of a staggeringly long parade in which groups made up of dancers donned in exquisite costumes proceed directly in front of and directly behind raucous brass bands that blare traditional Bolivian music with reckless, musical abandon. The 2.5 mile-long parade track winds through the city, every inch of which is lined by bleachers, 12-15 levels high, that are covered by colorful and tenuous tarps (ours was halfway collapsed by the end of the night) and are filled to the max with exuberant Bolivians and awestrucken gringos.
By some accounts, our introduction to this festival was unexpected and even a little harsh. Our guide miscalculated the exact location of our seats along the parade route and we were forced to walk along the side of parade track itself, vicariously placed between the rowdy crowd and the paraders themselves. It took a mere 15 seconds in this precarious location to be hit in the chest with a water balloon and a mere 3 minutes to be soaking wet and covered, nearly head-to-toe, in shaving cream. All of this was thanks to the good-natured crowd which possessed seemingling endless caches of water balloons, super soakers, and high pressured shaving cream cans and that ensured that we were properly welcomed and initiated by the time we arrived to our seats.
After settling into cramped seats on unforgiving, bound wooden 2x4´s we began to take in our surroundings. Groups of dancers and bands processed one after another, producing somewhat of a doppler effect that mirrored the emotion of the crowd: both the volume of music and the energy of the onlookers grew, peaked, and diminished as the bands and dancers came and went. As soon as the immediate vicinity was clear of paraders, water balloons flew in every direction, some of which landed on intentional targets but most of which doused innocent and unseeming onlookers, all of whom were legitimate targets on this day. It took less than 3 breaks in the action before we were on the hunt for water balloons to throw ourselves. A quick trip down a wooden ladder at the top of the bleachers took us to the sub-bleacher terrain, an area filled with enterprising locals selling anything from lukewarm Peceña beer to shaving cream cannons to water balloons. In short, a thriving sub-economy had been created for this event. Four Bolivianos later (equivalent to US $o.50), we were equipped with two bags of water balloons and we began picking out and picking off our targets. The process of descending the rickety wooden ladder, buying warm beer, using a local´s home bathroom for 1 Boliviano, and restocking on water balloons was one we undertook literally 20+ times throughout the day and it is safe to say that we hurled over 400 water balloons in total, dislocating our shoulders and adding to the mayhem that was Carnaval de Oruro.
By the time the afternoon rolled around, we began to anticipate the finale of what was already an overwhelmingly extravagant and impressive parade. Much to our surprise, the groups of bands and dancers kept coming as if being cranked out of an overworked parade machine whose switch was constitutively placed in the "ON" position. There was literally not one minute in the entire day during which we were not watching a group immediately in front of us or viewing one in the pipeline, minutes from our direct gaze. The afternoon sun, which for hours beat down on colorful streamers and created equally colorful shadows on the ground, eventually began to set and with it came a reciprocal elevation in the energy level of the crowd. Not a single festival-goer, present since dawn, had departed and even more people packed the stands, bringing with them more water balloons and shaving cream to add to the mix.
Around dinner time and in response to a nearly complete lack of blood flow to the overworked padding of our buttocks, we took a walking tour of Oruro and found the energy outside the parade to be just as high and contagious as that within the vibrant festival chute. More enterprising spirits lined the streets and the tragectories of water balloons and shaving cream could again be followed from their originators to their targets. As we walked along the outside of the parade track, we found the exact same scene time and time again: Bolivians dancing in their bleacher seats to the sound of the marching band and the jingle of bells attached to the dancer´s ornate costumes. The uniformity of the response to the parade was overwhelming and inspiring and directly reflects the love and respect these people share for their culture.
We eventually returned to our seats and got the immediate impression that we hadn´t missed much: the parade machine continued its diligent production of group after group of performers. In close conjuction with the now darkened sky and the ever more festive (and drunk) crowd, los grupos en fuegos emerged, bringing with them dancers donning fire-shooting helmets, jumbo-sized sparklers, and roman candles all set to the backdrop of a 15 foot-wide rope of some innocuous burning material, all of which created the impression of a group of devil dancers emerging from the fiery depths. With these groups came the greatest surges of energy in the crowd which began to take on the form of a raucous, carnal mob though one still deeply respectful of the traditions for which it was celebrating.
Our group´s promised 11 PM departure time came and went as the Bolivian operators, equally as mesmerized by the parade now as they were upon our arrival 13 hours ago, insisted that we stay for "one more group"! One group turned into two groups which turned into five groups and by 12:30 we were finally crossing the parade track towards the exit. This time, however, our trek was free of assault by water balloons and shaving cream, partially because these activities had ceased hours ago but also in part, or so we´d like to think, because we´d now been initiated in the ways of the Bolivian culture. The increased respect we now possessed for the people and their traditions made us worthy of a peaceful walk out. That, and because we´d proven ourselves to be a pretty good shot and we wouldn´t hesitate one bit to throw a water balloon right back.
-Will Bynum
Josh, Will, and Daniel in OruroFriday, February 12, 2010
Post Numero Uno
Five days into the trip, two days without suitcases, 2 minor illnesses, and 4 unsuccessful attempts at posting on this blog...
It is Friday in Cochabamba and we just finished in the burn center and are spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the late spring-like weather. This has been an eventful week full of amazing and new experiences and the usual frustrations of traveling in a developing country.
We arrived to Cochabamba early Monday morning after 24+ hours of traveling and, despite our luggage still being in Miami, were excited and overwhelmed to be back in this great city. We immediately took to the streets and reacclimated ourselves to the local culture and our favorite jaunts from the last trip. We began the medical portion of the trip on Tuesday morning and met with Drs. Romero and Montano and the rest of the burn center staff before receiving a tour of the entire Viedma hospital complex: the maternity hospital (complete with a staggering 300 beds), gastroenterology hospital, general Viedma hospital (wards), emergency room, and intensive care units. We received a uniformly warm welcome in spite of the fact that we were wearing 2-day old jeans and t-shirts complete with borrowed female white coats with puffed out sleeves that made us look more like 80´s prom queens than actual US medical students. We were invited to spend time in each location throughout our two week stay in Cochabamba and have already participated on gastroenterology rounds (2 cases of chagas disease) with plans to spend time in labor and delivery and the adult emergency room.
The burn center is an incredibly busy place right now with 14 out of 15 beds filled with burned children. Their injuries include 2nd degree burns caused by scalding water and soup, 3rd degree burns from open flame injuries, 3rd degree burns from electrocution, and 3rd degree burns from gas explosions. Approximately 85% of the injuries occurred in the kitchen where children act with great autonomy, assisting in the preparation of food and susceptible to the dangers that abound in rudimentary homes. The children are as stoic and wonderful as we remembered them and we were instantly reminded of the purpose for all the work we´ve put into MS4BCI over the past 2.5 years.
We took part in a lengthy round-table conversation with Dr. Oscar Romero (director of the burn center) about the donation of a mechanical ventilator, a process that has been in process for months now. They are still in desparate need of this equipment and we are working as hard as we can to make this purchase while we are in the country. Additionally, we are working to provide direct funding to one of the children in the burn center who received severe burns to over 70% of his body a few months back in a gas explosion. His family is poor and have no way of paying the $4,000 medical bill that has amassed due to the multiple surgeries, medicines, and life-saving measures undertaken over the past months. We have tentatively reached an agreement with the hospital to pay 1/2 of his bill with the hospital covering the other half. One of our initial goals when we first established MS4BCI in 2007 was to find ways to directly help the children and their families and we are excited about the opportunity to make a difference in the life of this deserving boy. We will write a dedicated post with his entire story and the difference MS4BCI hopes to make in his life sometime next week.
Our current weekend plans take us to Oruro for the Carnevale celebration which as been described as a can´t miss cultural event. We will spend next week in Cochabamba before traveling elsewhere in Bolivia for the remainder of the trip and will do our best to keep you updated!
Thanks for all the prayers, emails, and thoughts!
-Will Bynum
It is Friday in Cochabamba and we just finished in the burn center and are spending the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the late spring-like weather. This has been an eventful week full of amazing and new experiences and the usual frustrations of traveling in a developing country.
We arrived to Cochabamba early Monday morning after 24+ hours of traveling and, despite our luggage still being in Miami, were excited and overwhelmed to be back in this great city. We immediately took to the streets and reacclimated ourselves to the local culture and our favorite jaunts from the last trip. We began the medical portion of the trip on Tuesday morning and met with Drs. Romero and Montano and the rest of the burn center staff before receiving a tour of the entire Viedma hospital complex: the maternity hospital (complete with a staggering 300 beds), gastroenterology hospital, general Viedma hospital (wards), emergency room, and intensive care units. We received a uniformly warm welcome in spite of the fact that we were wearing 2-day old jeans and t-shirts complete with borrowed female white coats with puffed out sleeves that made us look more like 80´s prom queens than actual US medical students. We were invited to spend time in each location throughout our two week stay in Cochabamba and have already participated on gastroenterology rounds (2 cases of chagas disease) with plans to spend time in labor and delivery and the adult emergency room.
The burn center is an incredibly busy place right now with 14 out of 15 beds filled with burned children. Their injuries include 2nd degree burns caused by scalding water and soup, 3rd degree burns from open flame injuries, 3rd degree burns from electrocution, and 3rd degree burns from gas explosions. Approximately 85% of the injuries occurred in the kitchen where children act with great autonomy, assisting in the preparation of food and susceptible to the dangers that abound in rudimentary homes. The children are as stoic and wonderful as we remembered them and we were instantly reminded of the purpose for all the work we´ve put into MS4BCI over the past 2.5 years.
We took part in a lengthy round-table conversation with Dr. Oscar Romero (director of the burn center) about the donation of a mechanical ventilator, a process that has been in process for months now. They are still in desparate need of this equipment and we are working as hard as we can to make this purchase while we are in the country. Additionally, we are working to provide direct funding to one of the children in the burn center who received severe burns to over 70% of his body a few months back in a gas explosion. His family is poor and have no way of paying the $4,000 medical bill that has amassed due to the multiple surgeries, medicines, and life-saving measures undertaken over the past months. We have tentatively reached an agreement with the hospital to pay 1/2 of his bill with the hospital covering the other half. One of our initial goals when we first established MS4BCI in 2007 was to find ways to directly help the children and their families and we are excited about the opportunity to make a difference in the life of this deserving boy. We will write a dedicated post with his entire story and the difference MS4BCI hopes to make in his life sometime next week.
Our current weekend plans take us to Oruro for the Carnevale celebration which as been described as a can´t miss cultural event. We will spend next week in Cochabamba before traveling elsewhere in Bolivia for the remainder of the trip and will do our best to keep you updated!
Thanks for all the prayers, emails, and thoughts!
-Will Bynum
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