Happy Mother's Day!
A mother is caring, fighting, crying, playing, smiling, helping, changing, worrying and still loving. The mothers (and grandmothers) of the more than 307,455 children Healing the Children has helped to heal over the past 43 years are champions. They have sought care for their child and entrusted HTC to provide this care. Many times the journey is long and uncertain and these mother's make that trip hoping for a better life for their child. Through their actions they give their child a healthier life and the opportunity for a brighter future.
Her Name Was Lora - by Jeff Degner
Lying limply across her grandmother’s lap, the child resembled little more than a rag doll, so still and listless it was hard to tell she was even breathing. Her name was Lora. She was five. To get her to the rural Nicaraguan hospital, her nieta had first carried Lora four miles, passing through a swamp where she tenderly held her overhead, keeping her high and dry. Then they traveled for a while on horseback, took a long bus ride, and finally walked two more miles from the bus station to the hospital. There, the grandmother hoped that a group of Americans could save the life of the fragile girl she’d carried so far.
This is Lora returning home to her nieta after a surgery in the US where they removed a large growth from her face. Our friends with Healing the Children IL-IN provided this care.
Honoring a Special Mother and HTC Legend
For the past 30 years, Helen Salan has led the Healing the Children MI-OH Chapter. The many children who have received care over the years is a stunning accomplishment to the love and dedication of Helen and her team. We wish Helen all the best and thank her from the bottom of our hearts. Here are her parting words.
So yes, I am retiring after 30 years. Thank you, each and every one, for your collaboration, friendship, and for your part in making this an amazing journey. What HTC has accomplished since its beginning is nothing short of miraculous. It didn’t ‘just happen.’ All working together made it happen and that should be celebrated. Healing the Children was the new kid on the block, led by those with huge hearts, lots of compassion and the willingness to go the extra mile to help a child in need. They took the first steps so we could, and did, continue to blaze the trail. So many kids, so many airlifts, so many teams!
The world is so very different now but there is still a lot of need. I wish you well as you ‘adjust your sails’ (I am a sailor) to address need in this crazy world. Dr. Bob Mann will be stepping is as the Director of the MIOH Chapter and will thus, along with the BOD, be deciding on the ‘tack’ to be taken by the Chapter.
Helen wrote a final farewell in a newsletter called "Director's Farewell"
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