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Fundacion Europeo para niños
con cancer
About Us Sol y Vida currently supports 50 children with cancerous
tumors by financing
chemo and radiotherapy. Children
are
referred to us by the national children’s hospital - most of them are
less than
10 years old.
The children come from
families with monthly incomes of
150-350 USD. They have no health insurance, and therefore no access to
affordable medical services. The treatment of tumors can be expensive
depending
on the type of tumor; however, there are children that require only 20
USD a
month for their chemotherapy. According to the WHO, 80% of children
with cancer
can be cured if access to modern medicine is granted - Sol y Vida tries
to save
as many lives as possible with the help of donations.
The hospital that refers
children to us is the main
government children’s hospital in Ecuador.
This means that our children don’t just come from Quito,
but from all
over the country. The
journey to the
city can be very arduous with a sick child. Some families travel by
canoe or
horseback for hours before they reach the nearest bus station where a
bus takes
them on a 5-8 hour journey to Quito.
This is often the reason why the children only see a
cancer specialist
when the tumor has reached an advanced stage. In most cases the
children are
treated as outpatients, requiring numerous trips to the city throughout
their
treatment.
All our members work as volunteers. Virtually
all donations go directly to pay for the medical care of the children -
administrative costs are very low. Sol y Vida has agreements with
private suppliers
that allow us to access medical services at a much reduced cost,
meaning that
monetary donations go further and help more children. The
large majority
of children's cancers can be cured IF the child has access to the right
treatment - donating to Sol y Vida makes this possible for families who
would
otherwise have no way to help their child.
Our working goals:
Save as many children’s
lives as possible
- Support emergency cases quickly and
effectively without the loss of crucial time
- Provide nutritional advice and education
- Provide children in terminal state with
adequate pain treatment as well as sometimes fulfill them a last wish
- Participate in information campaigns to
create awareness in Eucador about child cancer
- Look for volunteer medical staff abroad to
help the staff at Baca Ortiz
Invite volunteer workers from abroad to come and
entertain the children while they are waiting long hours at the hospital for
their treatment
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