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View photos from our last visit to Leticia's home in July 2010.
Letícia was 9 years old (Bday 09/19/1999) when she was admitted to the hospital on 7/28/2008 for Myelomeningocele, Pneuonia.
HOW DID THE FAMILY ARRIVE
The family is composed of mother Angela (04/10/1974), stepfather André Luis (10/27/1974), one brother, Júlio (09/09/2004), and grandmother Maria Rosa (02/09/1952).
Leticia was born with myelomeningocele and for this reason she cannot walk. She started treatment at Hospital da Lagoa in April 2009 to treat pneumonia of repetition and other problems related to the disease. Leticia has a stable and loving home environment. However, her biological father has disappeared six years ago. Leticia’s mother married for the second time and Leticia’s stepfather is extremely dedicated and cares a lot about Leticia. Andre and Angela have a 4 year-old son.
Andre has odd-jobs. Her mother is a needlewoman but had to stop working because of Leticia’s health. The grandmother works as a cleaner and the only one in the family with a full-time job. The family also receives government’s assistance and has all the legal documents updated. They live at the grandmother’s house in Búzios (RJ).
Evolution
Leticia was finally discharged from the hospital on December 18th 2009, after being there for one year and eight months. Unfortunately, she had fever on Christmas and spent that night and two more days at a hospital near her house. By New Year’s Eve she was already at home with her family. Her new home has two bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom. Leticia’s room has now 115.39 square feet to accommodate her home care. The total cost of the renovation and adaptation of the house was $14,000 (R$ 25,700). Brazil Child Health promoted an event which made possible to buy a hospital bed, wardrobe, a chest, one armchair and shelves. A sponsor from Brazil donated a brand new refrigerator. Leticia has frequent urinary infection and pneumonia due to her health problem. For this reason, she has to take antibiotics and use diapers. The municipal district is providing a physiotherapist to treat her at home.
Leticia’s stepfather, who was always very kind with her, started drinking again. He had a very serious argument with Leticia’s mother in late March and left their home abandoning Angela and the kids.
Angela doesn’t work because she has to take care of Leticia full-time. Andre was able to help her during the week, but now she needs to do everything by herself. Leticia’s grandmother works everyday and makes the only income of the house. Leticia can go to a hospital in Búzios in case of emergency, but they do not have intensive care unit. If she needs this kind of treatment, Leticia has to be relocated to Rio by ambulance, which is provided by the municipal district of Búzios.
Angela is providing the necessary documents to receive the “Beneficio Assistencial da Crianca”, which is a help from the government that they are entitled to.
Saúde Criança Renascer Becomes ‘Saúde Criança’ and Introduces a New Logo to Highlight its Whole-Family Focus
Building on 18 years of experience, the international award-winning organization, Saúde Criança (“Child Health”), inaugurates a new logo emphasizing its focus on whole family health and social inclusion.
On October 25, the Saúde Criança Renascer Association celebrated 18 years helping thousands of families to stay healthy by changing its name to simply “Child Health,” inaugurating a new logo (illustrating a healthy family), and affirming a new guiding principle: “Health is Social Inclusion.” This idea will bring a sharpened focus to Saúde Criança’s work focusing on helping low-income families to restructure themselves and connect with mainstream society – to promote their health and prosperity in the most powerful possible way. The US office of Child Health Association (CHA), opened in the year 2000, will also have its name changed (*) from Friends of Renascer to Brazil Child Health. “We are entering an exciting new phase in our organization’s history as we recognize new needs – and perceive new opportunities – to expand our reach across Brazil and our positive impact on the health of families. These changes will help to clarify our focus and maintain high quality as we expand our social franchise to many more health institutions,” explains the founder and CEO of Child Health Association, Dr. Vera Cordeiro, who established the original site of the Child Health network in partnership with Hospital da Lagoa in Rio de Janeiro.
In NY - Brazil Child Health - an office of Associação Saúde Criança (ASC), established as a US 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, helps promoting and fundraising for Saúde Criança in Brazil. ASC's vision is to become a model of reference, stimulating the reproduction of its methodology in Brazil and worldwide, where similar health and poverty challenges are faced.
You can bring hope to a family and opportunity for a dignified life by becoming a sponsor for as little as $1.00/day. Your sponsorship will provide a family with: Medicine/Food/Improved housing/Professional workshops/Social, psychological, legal and nutritional support.
Once you enroll we will send you information about the child’s health and his/her family development three times a year, every March/July and November.
You can contribute in 3 different ways:
- Quarterly payment: $ 90
- Annual Payment: $ 360
- You can also sponsor a whole family for a year contributing with $4,200.
All contributions are 100% tax-deductible and can be made trough our website (www.brazilchildhealh.org) or you can send us a check (payable to Friends of Renascer).
Brazil Child Health Team
“Saúde Criança has created a powerful methodology of social inclusion for the very poor". Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Prize for Peace 2006
(*) – For legal purposes we are still Friends of Renascer, Inc. so please, any donation should be payable to: Friends of Renascer, Inc. We will inform you as soon as we receive our new certificate of incorporation.
The Linda Sue Pfarrer Nortillo Foundation Sponsors Entire Family for a Year
This is the third year that The Linda Sue Pfarrer Nortillo Foundation has sponsored an entire family for a year.
The Foundation has been helping us since 2008. This is the second year they have sponsored an entire family by donating $4,100. With this amount we will be able to help an entire family develop in the 5 areas: Health/Citizenship/Education/Housing and Income.
We want to thank them for the donation and for believing in our work.
We hope to continue receiving their support because it is with these kinds of donations that Saúde Criança keeps helping more and more children every day.
Our Network is Getting Larger
Florianópolis is the newest replication model of Saúde Criança methodology. On February 1st we had the inauguration of Recontar.
Recontar will help children hospitalized at Hospital Infantil Joana Gusmão. This is the 24th institution in partner with Saúde Criança. The opening was celebrated with Damien Rice and Seu Jorge shows. Two mothers were present, Cátia and Gislane, to talk about the impact of the organization on their lives.
Mariana, our Marketing Project Manager, went to Rio to spend 3 days at Associacao Saúde Criança.
She had a wonderful time there, enjoyed the Brazil team and the work. She also took some pictures of the children helped by ASC that you must take a look at.
Brazil Child Health has a goal in 2010; we must achieve the magic number of 1,000 sponsors.
We thank you all for your support. Your contributions enable us to continue with our mission of supporting children and their families, helping them achieve and sustain an improved and dignified life.
Now we would like to ask your assistance once again in order to reach the magic number. If you could send a link to our website, email some friends, or just tell them how they can help us and invite them to become a sponsor of child’s family, we would really appreciate it. If they don’t want to commit to the sponsorship but still want to help, they can choose to become a member. They can find the enrollment form at the link below or you can send to them. And don’t forget donations are tax deductible as allowed by law.
We are Health Public Politics in Belo Horizonte
Today, the articulation between public power and the non-profit organizations is an important tool at the public politics development. To transform successful projects, elaborated and applied by the civil society, in governmental projects is a way to amplify the beneficiaries scale, starting from an already tested and approved methodology, thus with more chances and effectiveness. This is what is happening with the social inclusion methodology developed by Associação Saúde Criança, which inspired health public politics and social assistance at the city of Belo Horizonte, capital of Minas Gerais.