“Smile no matter what is going on because even though the kids here don’t have the best clothes or medical care, they smile more than anyone I’ve met – they’re so happy!” –Ellie Feltovic, Renbrook School 9^th grader

Last week students from the Renbrook School in Avon, Connecticut teamed with FIBUSPAM to embark on their annual service trip to Riobamba. Before their trip they fundraised $3,000 for the Carlos Garbay School for students with special needs, a school which FIBIUSPAM provides medical services on a regual basis. While in Riobamba, Renbrook students worked on building handicap ramps to make the Carlos Garaby campus accessible to all of the children.

 

[Read more…]

Mobile Caravana to Macas

This weekend, FIBUSPAM travelled to Macas, Ecuador, the capital of the Morona Santiago province located on the edge of the Amazon Rainforest. It has a large indigenous population and is the principle territory of the Shuar and Macabea cultures. Many people live in extreme poverty and have little access to health care. FIBUSPAM provided health care services to hundreds of families free of charge.

The caravana was an enormous success – in total, we saw 71 dental patients, provided 314 eye exams, and donated 194 pairs of glasses to the people of Macas. We also identified 80 individuals who were eligible for surgery due to advanced cataracts and terigia Some of these patients have already been operated on at our Riobamba clinic. [Read more…]

Since the beginning of 2014 FIBUSPAM has independently preformed cataract surgeries at its clinic in Riobamba. To date we have performed hundreds of eye surgeries and provided non-surgical essential treatment to thousands of patients in need. This month FIBUSPAM has taken a great stride in our history and has successfully completed a surgical caravana in Puyo, the capital of Pastaza province. FIBUSPAM’s skilled ophthalmologist, Dr. Harol Alfaro, along with the FIBUSPAM staff, partnered with local healthcare facilities in Puyo, to operate on patients with advanced cataracts, free of charge. Through this successful collaboration, FIBUSPAM prevented the blindness of the 124 patients whose cataracts were removed. FIBUSPAM is so pleased to provide this service to communities throughout Ecuador and looks forward to continued surgical caravanas throughout the year.

 

 

                      

FIBUSPAM Inc. is pleased to welcome Dr. Magdalena Serpa and Mr. Fernando Ascencio to our board of directors. Dr. Serpa is renowned medical doctor and public health practitioner with over twenty years of experience in the field. Originally from Colombia, Magdalena is intimately aware with the realities of improvised communities in Latin America and is dedicated to making a difference. Magdalena has implemented public health programs in countries such as Ghana, Equatorial Guinea, Senegal, Nigeria, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. In her early career she served as the General Manager of a 350 bed hospital in Bogota. She also served as a nutrition and child health advisor to the president of Colombia. Magdalena is a founding member of Glasswing International, which is a humanitarian organization that serves populations in Central America and she currently serves as a Senior Program Officer at PATH.

Mr. Fernando Ascencio is a nonprofit executive who has worked on humanitarian issues ranging from increasing the prevalence of early detection of cancers in Latino populations in the US to feeding the homeless in our nation’s capital. Fernando is a skilled fundraiser and is passionate about serving others. He is fluent in Spanish, articulate, and experienced in nonprofit organizational management. Fernando holds an MBA with a focus in nonprofit administration and has served on several notable boards over the course of the last ten years. Fernando currently serves as the Executive Director of Nueva Vida in Alexandria, VA.

FIBUSPAM is delighted to have the opportunity to collaborate with these accomplished and dedicated humanitarians as members of our board of directors. We extend them the warmest of welcomes from the entire FIBUSPAM family.

Last month FIBUSPAM met a bubbly teenage girl in Riobamba named Paulina. A normal teenager in every way, Paulina enjoys spending time with friends, browsing the internet, and watching movies. Paulina suffered severe burns from a kitchen fire last year that left her face and upper body with horrific and painful scares. Through a successful collaboration with Shriners hospital, Paulina arrived in Boston a few weeks ago to receive care and reconstructive treatment. FIBUSPAM is proud to support Paulina and her family through this process. We are extremely thankful to Martha Garzon and Manos de Misericordia in Boston who are providing support and kindness to Paulina and her mom during their stay at Shriners. We are wishing Paulina the best of luck with her surgeries the month. [Read more…]