When Liza was born her parents learned that she had two serious heart defects known as a patent ductus arteriosus and ventricular septal defect.  This worried them greatly because of the many serious health implications associated with these conditions.  Already, Liza’s little heart was beating abnormally fast because it had to work much harder to circulate the blood in her body.  Her parents lived with the uncertainty and stress of knowing that their child needed surgery for over a year, then, finally with the help of the surgical team, her operations were performed.  Shortly after her surgery she was giggling, playing peek-a-boo and diligently popping all bubbles blown by hospital staff.  Her mother expressed her excitement to see her daughter live a more normal life and said the first thing Lisa will do when she gets home is play with her dolls.

My honorable Dr. Novick,

Thank you so much and best wishes for the coming chinese new year of Tiger!

We are Peiran Lu’ s parents, you did a wonderful operation for Peiran in March,2008 in Beijing, now he s just over 25 months old, about 13kg net weight 86 cm tall, that s about 2 cm lower than his same age friend. he’s very naughty and can understand some stories and tales but he doesnt like speak,only a few words but he likes english very much not chinese!

Very pity that you were very busy in 2009 in Beijing, we couldnt meet and say thanks to you in person, If you have time , we would very please to hearing from you. if you have any plan to visit China again, it would be very kind of you if you let us know your time schedule before you arrive.

thank you so much again and may God bless you and your medical team forever!

yours sincerely

Ping Lu from china

Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, is located in the southern region in the Fancisco Morazán province. It is the largest city in Honduras with an estimated population of 1.25 million.

Honduras is the poorest country in Central America. Citizens have little or no healthcare, primitive housing, and few ways to earn a living. The country has hardly any major roads, bridges, and little sanitation infrastructure. The situation was aggravated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998, from which the country has never recovered.

Medical Mission Trip:

March 19 – April 2, 2011

An International Children’s Heart Foundation team made its third medical mission trip to the Instituto Nacional Cardiopulmonar (Hospital Tórax) in March 2011. The team, led by Cardiovascular Surgeon Dr. Christian Gilbert, performed 24 operations at that time. The ICHF team also instructed the local team in caring for children with congenital heart defects. These children would not have survived without the help of our volunteers and sponsors, including Rotary District 7260 Gift of Life Program, Gift of Life of New Jersey #7470, Rotary District 7500 Gift of Life Program, and Helping Hands for Honduras.

Assiut, or Asyût, the largest city in Upper Egypt, is located about 190 miles south of Cairo.

Twenty-five percent of Egypt’s 71 million people live below the poverty line, earning less than $1 a day. In Egypt, 2.7 million children must work to help support their families. Unfortunately, 40 percent of rural school children are anemic due to malnutrition. The mortality rate for children under the age of five in Egypt is 41 per every 1,000 births, while the neonatal mortality rate is 33 per every 1,000 births, representing over 60,000 deaths per year.

Medical Mission Trip:

March 20 – April 3, 2010

International Children’s Heart Foundation visited the Assiut Children’s Hospital, Assiut University in March 2010. The team, led by Dr. William Novick, worked alongside the local staff, teaching them the latest techniques in caring for children with congenital heart defects. During this trip, 14 children received operations that their families could never begin paying for. This trip would not have been possible without the support of our sponsors, including Gift of Life Northeast Ohio, District #6630.