Rossy is a sweet and active 8-year-old. She is God’s literal miracle of life for her family.

Rossy comes from a family of six. She has three older siblings and they all live with their parents in Cantel, Quetzaltenango, located about four hours northwest of Guatemala City.

Quetzaltenango is known for its cold weather and very nice people.

Rossy’s siblings Orfa and Eleazar are enrolled in our Child Sponsorship Program. Rossy’s parents wanted her to attend the same center too, but there were no available spots for new children.

Nevertheless, another child development center in Cantel, located only several blocks away from their house, had available spots.

One of the benefits Rossy received as a sponsored child was a medical checkup. Our ministry provides two medical checkups a year for younger children. And it was during Rossy’s first medical checkup that the doctor identified a suspicious murmur in her heart.

The doctor asked our staff to take Rossy to a cardiologist in Quetzaltenango. However, Rossy did not seem or act like she was sick.

After an echocardiogram, an electrocardiogram and X-rays, the cardiologist confirmed that Rossy had a heart problem and told us not to wait until she had symptoms to treat it. The doctor recommended we travel to the city that offered a special cardiovascular surgery unit called UNICAR.

The child development center nurse, Ruth, tells us,

“The doctor explained that Rossy had a small hole in her heart; even though she had no symptoms she still needed the appropriate treatment.”

Our staff at the child development center talked to Rossy’s parents. They offered financial support through a Partners of Compassion fund, but Rossy’s parents did not follow up with us.

Rossy’s father, Ipolito, explains,

“I was really scared. I had no ways of paying for her surgery. I had also heard how many children die during surgery. She did not look sick, so I did not want to risk her life in a surgery that I thought was not needed. I was hoping for a miracle.”

Even though her symptoms were not noticeable to her family, Rossy noticed them.

“I would get really tired and short of breath. On my daily walk back home I could not walk up the hill without having to stop many times to take a breath.”

A year after her doctor visit, everything changed for Rossy and her family when she started bleeding from her nose and mouth and it would not stop.

Rossy’s parents took her to the hospital and for the third time Rossy’s heart problems were confirmed. The first time was when Rossy was just a baby. The doctor had told them about her heart murmur, but due to the lack of resources they did not give her the treatment needed.

In addition to her bleeding, Rossy started developing purpura, a condition were purple-colored spots start showing on the skin.

It was during this time that her parents realized the importance of the surgery.

“My wife and I argued a lot, because I did not want Rossy to have surgery. I was very afraid.”

After realizing his daughter was only getting worse, Ipolito accepted help from the ministry.

“I went back to apologize to the child development center staff. I was wrong. Rossy needed help and I did not take advantage of it on time.

“The brothers and sisters at the center have been of great support, not only financially, but spiritually too. They were always praying for us. Through Compassion, God gave me the miracle I had been waiting for.”

Rossy went to UNICAR and during her first appointment the doctor diagnosed her with Tetralogy of Fallot, a cardiac anomaly involving four related heart defects. Rossy needed open-heart surgery. The doctors warned her family that there was a great chance Rossy would not make it because of how long they waited to treat her.

The doctor asked Rossy to go to the dentist before her surgery. She needed to not have any cavities to prevent infections. She also had a catheterization to make sure her veins and capillaries were in good shape before the surgery.

Finally, Rossy’s open-heart surgery took place.

The staff at the child development center made sure that Rossy’s family felt cared for and loved during this time. One person from the center was with Rossy and her mom at all times while they were at the hospital. Others would visit her father and siblings at their house.

Children at the center started a “Rossy’s Fund” to raise funds for her surgery. They also had a prayer and fasting week for her.

Rossy responded really well to the procedure, and two weeks later she was on her way home.

The doctor recommended Rossy rest a lot so her heart and sternum could fully heal. Rossy was not happy since it meant she was not going to attend school or the child development center. But, she is now back at the center and school.

Today, Rossy is a girl filled with life. She loves to play with her dolls and kitchenware toys. Her favorite subject in school is math. She loves to go to the child development center. She likes to read her Bible, especially the book of Genesis.

Rossy tells us,

“I like the project because it is where I learn about the Word of God. My favorite Bible story is God’s creation, especially the part where Adam and Eve disobeyed. It helps me remember that we always need to be obedient.”

Center Director Abigail also wants us to know,

“Rossy is very smart and likes to participate in contests or special activities. She is the one who gets the medals and awards every time. She had a perfect attendance score.

“She is an outstanding 8-year-old. We are so grateful for her life. There are no words to thank all the people who donated money for her surgery. Please know that it was not in vain. Your donations saved a life. You saved Rossy.”

Thanks to you, Rossy has a promising life ahead of her. A life full of dreams, dreams like being a doctor. She wants to be a doctor who helps children when she grows up.

Thank you for giving life, literally.

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Alex was one of the statistics – a child with a heart problem with seemingly no hope for treatment. Alex’s father recalls: 

“It started as a fever. My wife and I took my son, Alex, to the hospital, but it did not get any better. And when we took him to a bigger hospital, his symptoms baffled the doctors. They had no solution for us but to refer us to the Mulago Heart Institute where we started on a course of treatment.

“This went on for three years with no change. At that point I started to pray to God, saying if it is God’s will to take him away from us then so be it. I spoke to Alex as well and he was of the same mind. Because the doctors saw that I was poor they feared to tell me about the operation abroad because they knew I could not afford it.”

Like many children whose heart conditions go untreated, Alex and his family prepared for the worst. Alex remembers:

“At first I felt like my life was going to end any time because after going to Mulago Heart Institute, they said they couldn’t handle my situation. I saw death at the next door. So I began to seek the face of the Lord. I moved close to God and at that point I asked my daddy to buy me a radio so that I could listen to men praying and lay my hands on the radio, looking at God because He is the one who has the final decision on my life.”

All Alex had was his faith. He had been taught at the child development center to believe in a God who could do the impossible.

“I was not afraid. I had confidence in God. I had heard testimonies of people healed by God who were very sick.”

Sick children at our child development centers are usually identified by our church partners during the routine health screenings. Information on children with heart defects is then forwarded to our country office. It is here that arrangements are made for the children to be taken for assessment.

For some of the children the journey ends with treatment in Uganda. But for others treatment is not enough and surgery is needed to help them.

However in Uganda, there is no access to “first world” cardiac surgery and catheterization. These cases – cases like Alex’s – are referred to India for surgery.

Yona Kapere, the Compassion Uganda health specialist, works closely with the doctors and nurses at the Uganda Heart Institute to arrange for the best doctors in India to treat and look after the children when they are so far from home. The Uganda Heart Institute always arranges for a nurse to accompany the children to and from India.

From 2005 to date, 16 children have gone to India from Uganda for open-heart surgery through our heart surgery intervention program. After surgery in India, the children return to the Uganda Heart Institute for follow-up and monthly review.

All 16 children are alive and have better health since their surgeries. The quality of their lives has improved and they are able to play and take part in the center activities without weakness and illness.

Before Alex’s heart surgery, his physical condition kept him from playing football, his favorite hobby. He also had trouble walking long distances and even waking up. Now, he is back to playing football and he says he is able to walk more than 5 km.

Alex’s future plan is to become a medical doctor or a pastor. Whether he becomes a pastor or a doctor, God has surely saved this young man for a bright future. And wherever Alex goes, he will be able to share his difficult story, which is summed up best in his own words,

“It has not been easy, but God is faithful.”

Although the support the Child Sponsorship Program provides is wide-ranging, your $38 monthly sponsorship cannot tackle all the obstacles to healthy development the children you love experience.

The program Alex benefited from was part of our Complementary Interventions activities, a key part of our holistic child development model supporting our three core programs: Child Survival, Child Sponsorship and Leadership Development.

You can learn more about our holistic child development model at compassionmodel.org.

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On the second page was our mission statement, “Releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ name,” and a picture of Roselyn.

I remember the first time I read about Roselyn. It was my first month on the job. Edwin Estioko in the Philippines had written a story about her in September 2007:

Inside the unfinished concrete house I wait for Roselyn. Her mother, Rufina, pulls out a plastic chair for me. She narrates how they were evicted from their old shanty and how now they have to occupy this roofless, doorless bunker.

Then 10-year-old Roselyn comes running in, smiling as if she already knows me. Neighbors follow her in.

“Hello, Roselyn,” I introduce myself and tell her I am visiting to know more about her special condition. Her smile and endearing eyes help us get acquainted easily. She’s dark and sweaty from playing under the sun.

I ask, “What do you hope to be when you grow up?”

“I want to be a doctor.”

All her neighbors and relatives laugh. Even her big sister, Rosel, giggles.

They laugh not only for the impossibility to afford medical school, but also for the irony. Roselyn is in need of a doctor. She is dying.

In 2002, Roselyn was registered at Kapatirang Kristiyano sa Coloong. Her wit and spunky attitude made her stand out.

Alma, her caseworker in the center, remembers, “Roselyn was always one of the quickest to recite and answer questions in class. She had no problem speaking her mind.”

In 2004, Roselyn’s profile reported, “She runs fast, very energetic. She is lively and fun.” But that year, all the children at the child development center had their medical checkup.

It was then that Roselyn found out she was sick. “They said there’s something wrong with my heart, that I cannot play anymore as I used to. I guess that’s why I get tired easily from playing and studying.”

Roselyn has rheumatic heart disease, made more complicated by a leaking mitral valve.

The student center acted quickly, consulting with doctors and specialists at the Philippine Heart Center, and immediately Roselyn entered a medical regimen that required her to visit the hospital every 21 days for her shots and to take two medicines every day.

“I am very thankful to Compassion and Roselyn’s sponsor,” Rufina says. “Without their help I don’t know how I could afford all her medicines,” she continues. “It is even difficult for me to buy food every day.” She earns $2 per day selling ice cream. The father left the family, which is why they live in this roofless bunker.

Rufina says, “I don’t know what will happen to us. We just keep on living every day and hoping for the best in God.”

Roselyn has a positive outlook. Although she feels the pangs of poverty — not eating enough some days and not living in a safe and comfortable home — poverty could not steal away her hope in life. She is happy.

Roselyn looks forward to going to school every day, to study and to finish her assignments. She says, “I hope that I could also live longer so I could finish my studies and help my mother someday.”

The day after I re-read Roselyn’s story, I got an e-mail from Edwin.

Roselyn passed away.

This beautiful, spunky, playful and hopeful girl left this world and went back to her Father.

Roselyn’s heart disease was most likely caused by an untreated infection in childhood — a common consequence of poverty.

At first I was worried. Her picture has been used in various publications, and now prominently in this book. But as I thought about it more, it seems to be a proper memorial for Roselyn.

Our mission is to release children from poverty in Jesus’ name, to enable them to become responsible and fulfilled Christian adults. Roselyn won’t ever be an adult on this Earth. But she can help us remember all the other Roselyns. The little girls and boys with piercing eyes and a lot of spunk.

I know a lot of you speak up for these children, just like for Roselyn. Keep doing it.

When you get tired or frustrated, remember Roselyn. Remember that poverty is real. Remember our mission. Remember all the children like her who have dreams and need hope and opportunities for their future.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

If you have a defect in your interatrial septum, the tissue that divides the right side of your heart from the left side, your blood can get confused. And if that happens, you end up with blood that goes where it shouldn’t. That’s bad.

In a normal heart, the left ventricle has to produce enough pressure to pump blood throughout the entire body, but the right ventricle has to produce only enough pressure to pump blood to the lungs.

In the case of a large defect, this pressure difference means that blood from the left atrium can flood and enlarge the right side of the heart and, if left untreated, can result in heart failure.

That’s ASD in a nutshell. And this is why I tell you.

Alexander is an 8-year-old Kenyan boy who has ASD. He is in the third grade and is the youngest child in a family of five. Because his heart has been pumping deoxygenated blood to his growing body for his entire life, Alexander is smaller than most children his age.

In August 2008, during an evaluation at the child development center, a pediatrician noticed that Alexander has a heart murmur. Follow-up tests in Nairobi identified the birth defect and recommended a cardiac catheterization procedure and open heart surgery.

But Alexander’s parents are peasant farmers, and his mother sells fruit at the market to earn extra income. They survive on $13.70 per month.

$13.70 a month is barely adequate to meet the family’s basic needs, let alone pay for open heart surgery.

At this point, heart failure is a real possibility for Alexander. However, studies have shown that patients with a surgically repaired ASD have an excellent prognosis, particularly when the operation is done before the age of 25.

But Alexander’s family can’t afford the operation. It costs $8,303.

Alexander has been waiting to receive the surgery for several months now, since early December, but he can’t wait any longer. His condition has recently worsened – which made me think of something Amanda suggested back in February.

“I am just kicking around a few ideas here. What if Compassion had a “Spotlight of the Week” – or “Spotlight of the Month?” It could be either a child (medical need?), family, or small community need. It could even be in the area of the global financial crisis, disaster relief, Child Survival Program, or some other facet of Compassion. For example, one week you could highlight the (global food crisis) need of a community in Uganda to have goats or seeds for crops (or both). After the donations have been given, you could easily follow up with a story in the blog to share the results of the giving.”

So, Alexander has a need. And our objective is to give him a normal heart. Can we do this for him?

Make a donation to help pay for Alexander’s surgery. (Update: May 21, 2009 – You did it! And more. You contributed around $10,000. I expect to have the exact amount tomorrow.)

Thank you for loving this child.

As I receive updates on how Alexander is doing, I will share them with you. I can’t promise you updates with any degree of regularity though. I can just promise that there will be a follow-up.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates

Every month we receive prayer requests from our country staff; prayer requests that we publish in our monthly prayer calendar, on compassion.com and as tweets.

Would you mind joining us in healing prayer for these sponsored children:

• Komol in Bangladesh, who is suffering from heart disease
• Soledad in Bolivia, who is waiting for a kidney transplant
• Jacob and Asish in East India, as they are suffering from malaria
• Miguel in Nicaragua, who has rheumatic fever
• Mukankusi in Rwanda, living with diabetes

If you leave your prayers as comments to this post, our country staff will be much encouraged. We’ll make sure they’re aware of the post.

And in cases where a child development center has a computer, the children and church partners will also know you are speaking to the Lord on their behalf.

My Account l Sponsor a Child l Help Babies and Moms l Crisis Updates