Julio was already three years old when he was introduced to us. The boy lives with his parents and brother in Iquitos, in the Amazon rainforest region. Iquitos is the largest city on the Peruvian Amazon and cannot be reached by land, only by ship across the Amazon, or by plane.
We learn about Julio’s need for help through a Swiss aid organization (Lacitos de Luz) that works to advance the rights and welfare of children in the region. Julio was born with a very wide bilateral cleft lip and palate. Simone, the founder of Lacitos de Luz, who had taken Julio to her heart, did everything she could to find help for him. In Julio’s home region, the health care is very poor, there is no possibility to operate on his cleft lip and palate.
Simone found our association on the Internet and contacted us immediately. Together, we were able to arrange Julio’s first operation in Lima. There, his cleft lip was operated in November last year by our Peruvian surgeon Dr. Alberto Bardales.
Now, there is hardly anything left to see of Julio’s cleft lip. And last Friday, Dr. Bardales was also able to close his palate: Not an easy operation, because the cleft in Julio’s palate was particularly severe. But our experienced surgeon Dr. Bardales succeeded in closing the palate.
We wish Julio and his family all the best for the future! We will of course keep in touch and report to you on how Julio is doing.
