The funds we sent to India bought a generator for an orphanage in the Forest area of southern India after a deadly earthquake left many thousands of people homeless.

After the earthquake in Venezuela we sent infant and baby diapers, First Aid supplies, water and canned goods through Catholic relief services to those in need.

The Sharing Center at the Pine Ridge Reservation has received many boxes of clothing, sneakers and books for all those children in need who have been abandoned or left homeless due to the lack of work for the families in the nearby towns. We also correspond with a 6-year old girl named Katrina.

The Ecuador project has become a long lasting one due to the complications caused by a high birth rate combined with a previous 18-20% infant mortality rate. The birth rate in the past 3 years has been 110 Babies born every day in the one Maternity hospital in Guayaquil.

The problems of low birth weights and infant malnutrition combined to make the mortality rate very high in this mostly Catholic country where the young mothers from the mountains and outlying regions only show up at the hospital the day they are due. The lack of medical supplies in the villages and almost no prenatal information and care complicate this problem. This offers us a great challenge for the coming year.

The Federal Government of Ecuador has also been besieged by problems caused by a brief border war with Peru over oil rights and a raging inflation, which caused the country to accept the U.S. Dollar as their national currency starting in May 2001.

We have raised funds from Humanitarian services of the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter Day Saints to provide 25 Incubators to replace the 2 very old semi-functioning units in existence on my first visit there in January 2000. The Mormon Church, through the efforts Gardner and Dorothy Russell of Satellite Beach, Florida, also provided 10 voltage regulators to provide a steady source of power to medical equipment.

Almost 100 Hydrocephalic shunts were provided for use in the Hospital des Ninos, Roberto Gilbert as well as in the charity hospitals of the Maria Gracias Foundation such as the Leon Becerra Hospital. Some of these Hydrocephalic shunts were a donation of John and Ruthann Genoni of Melbourne, Florida.

In August 2000 after a successful approach to HealthFirst HMO and other Hospitals in Brevard County, we were able to ship three 40 foot Containers full of free Stainless Steel hospital cribs, beds, Delivery tables, stretchers and operating tables to the JUNTA de Beneficencia de Guayaquil a remarkable Non-profit Organization founded in 1893 by descendants of some British settlers who came to fight alongside Simon Bolivar to secure the independence of Ecuador.

The JUNTA presently consists of 41 Directors, mostly directly descended from those early settlers, who devote and donate 4 hours each and every day to the operation of their 4 hospitals with a total of 3000 beds serving anyone in need in the Guayaquil area of some 3 million people.

This labor of love has brought the only stable and professional health care to millions of people during their 113 year existence and I am proud to be able to provide funds, equipment, Supplies and technical information to this wonderful and truly not for profit organization. In August 2001 we sponsored the first International Seminar on Hospital Management, equipment maintenance, Hospital Computerized Information Systems , and a dialogue with Neo-natal Intensive Care Specialists from the Harvard University Brigham and Women's Hospital as well as a Pediatric Cardiologist from The Cleveland Clinic.

The computer software Engineer from India was especially helpful in describing the advances in Village Health care in his nation of 1 Billion people. A leader in Healthcare Management and politics came from the Intermountain Health System of Salt Lake City, Utah and was deluged with questions after each presentation. Their thirst for knowledge is so great. The Seminar was very well received and we have been asked to put another one together for June of 2002.

This helped us to realize that contributing money, equipment and supplies alone would not change a critical children's healthcare problem but that an open exchange of ideas and technology between dedicated Professionals would establish intellectual links that would outlast any hardware and supplies.

We are presently accumulating needed hospital equipment for the Children's Hospital in Guayaquil and have begun the filling of a container at the Port of Miami for shipment in January. So far we have acquired a dental operation room and X-ray unit, a general X-ray unit, some Stretchers, Exam tables, Infant Warming stand and lights, 30 cases of Dextrose solution, various other inject able medications, Air mattresses and a wheelchair.

We are currently seeking donations of (or funds to purchase) some kitchen equipment such as patient tray washer, a large mixer for potatoes and baking, defibrillators, an emergency generator and other items too numerous to list here.

A hospital is like a small (or sometimes large) city and requires as much equipment to maintain it and feed thousands each day as well as treat them. With continued support from generous and caring folks like those who have helped us in the past, we will continue to provide care to all children in need through our shipments of clothing, shoes, books and sports equipment as well as medical supplies and hospital equipment. We understand that a child is more than muscle and bones and teeth but is also an intelligent human being with a thirst for love and knowledge and acceptance.