Featured Event
For many, Thursday October the 10th will be a day to cherish, not only for the enjoyable Gala in a beautiful setting, but also for the celebration of an individual whose 15-year dedication to Surgeons of Hope has earned deep respect and appreciation. The event also provided a poignant insight into what congenital heart disease (CHD) means for families in Latin America.
The sound of the bells from Saint Patrick’s Cathedral created a relaxing atmosphere for our reception after a long work day. It was the perfect environment for our organization’s most important event. We had the opportunity to share with our guests how Surgeons of Hope, our medical teams, and our volunteers and donors impact the lives and futures of the children we assist in the countries we serve.
An hour later, all our guests were directed to a dining room, where they sat and had a delicious dinner before the program started. Richard Duron, our co-chair, shared the results of a year of impactful missions and reminded us about the vital role we play in providing the opportunity to many children to survive and beat their disease. He stressed on the importance of training the local medical teams so they can carry on what our specialists teach them during our missions.
As a humanitarian organization, we could not overlook the emotional impact of the event when our chairman, Eduardo Da Cruz, M.D., stepped up to the podium to receive well-deserved recognition for his countless contributions. His dedication not only to Surgeons of Hope but also to inspiring many talented medical specialists has fueled the pursuit of his dream: that every child with congenital heart disease (CHD) has the same opportunities to thrive as those in developed countries.
A few minutes later, as if listening to Dr. Da Cruz wasn’t enough, our wonderful Heart Ambassador member, Nathalie Fontaine, touched our hearts by sharing her experiences from her trip to Costa Rica in September to support the mission. By that point, everyone was filled with conviction and enthusiasm to participate in our fundraising activities for the evening.
We cannot express enough gratitude for everyone who attended our 2024 Gala and for their generous contributions, which helped us reach our fundraising goal for the evening. Their kindness and compassion for our children and their families serve as a tremendous motivation, keeping us strong and focused on finding new ways to bring hope wherever we go.
Featured Stories
Throughout 2023, Paraguayan Dr. Franciele Regiane Rohden from the General Pediatric Hospital “Niños de Acosta Ñu” obtained a six-months-training on Pediatric Cardiovascular Imaging at the Gregorio Marañón General University Hospital, Madrid – Spain, provided by Surgeons of Hope and by the support of Dr. Nancy Garay, Dr. Constancio Medrano, Dr. Enrique Maroto and Dr. Fernando Ballesteros.
Among diverse subjects, her training included Outpatient rotations where clinical consultation and transthoracic echocardiography of patients who came to the service for the first time was performed, or patients with already established cardiological diagnoses who came for review, either for clinical control or to enter the list of procedures, surgery and/or diagnostic or therapeutic catheterization.
She also carried out an internship in transesophageal echocardiography in the Pediatric Hemodynamics laboratory as well as rotations in the Fetal Echocardiography laboratory and Magnetic Resonance and Computed Tomography service.
All the above would certainly come to accomplish the training’s main objectives of improving team coordination, offering comprehensive care to patients, and supporting the doctor’s skills in terms of the various procedures that are carried out daily at General Pediatric Hospital “Niños de Acosta Ñu”.
According to Doctora Franciele Regiane, “The attending cardiologists showed willingness and camaraderie in sharing their knowledge and providing their teachings to me and the other residents who rotate in the service. I always felt a very familiar and comfortable environment working with patients and co-workers”.
We are deeply excited to see how her acquired knowledge will improve cardiology services in general.
At Surgeon of Hope, we have some great news to share. It’s with pleasure that we announce Diana Chinchilla has recently joined our team as Operations and Missions Director.
Based in Costa Rica, one of the countries where we hold a long-time history of successful missions, Diana has a solid professional journey working as commercial and operations manager for brands such as Life Fitness or Salvatore Ferragamo. In the last few years, in addition to her master’s degree in marketing and advertising, she’s been specializing on project management’s methodology. According to her “My main contribution to Surgeons of Hope will rely on strategic thinking, fundraising diversity, storytelling and a better knowledge of our audience and children”.
A great fan of gardening and mothering a 4-year-old son, for many years, she’s shared her spare time to different local communities where she supports social programs. Currently, she’s leading a personal project to collect 200 Christmas presents for a rural marginalized neighborhood this December.
We wish her a full accomplishment.
We’re certain that our patients, medical staff, donors, partners, interns, general staff, will be delighted to work with Diana. Please feel free to contact her by email at [email protected]
Latest News
Meet Franciele, a pediatric cardiologist training in echocardiography training in Spain from June 2023 to December 2023 with the support of SOH
In April, a team of 17 individuals from Spain, 1 from Nicaragua, 2 representatives from Surgeons of Hope and one from Mending
Surgeons of Hope’s returned to Costa Rica after a 3-year hiatus because of the pandemic. A medical team from Chicago, led by
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Meet Our Heroes
Meet Jhonatan, a heart hero who underwent a life-changing open-heart surgery to correct truncus back in March 2019. Truncus arteriosus," also called "common truncus." It's a condition where babies are born with just one highway instead of two that come out of their heart. They also have only one traffic light controlling the blood flow instead of the usual two. 🚦
This mix-up leads to a problem because the oxygen-rich blood gets all mixed up with the oxygen-poor blood. This means that too much blood goes to the lungs, and the poor heart must work extra hard to pump blood to the rest of the body. 💔 Children, like Jhonatan, with this condition need a special surgery to fix their heart and blood vessels. Fast forward to 2023, Jonathan had the opportunity to express his heartfelt gratitude to the extraordinary doctors who transformed his life.
Watch Holman’s Story
Holman received lifesaving surgery 6 years ago, when he was just 12 years old. We were able to reconnect with Holman and his doctor. This compelling story was captured on video and truly embodies the Surgeons of Hope mission.
