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We found this little guy living on an island the size of your backyard off the coast of Panama. Let's lend him a hand!
While sailing through the San Blas islands off the coast of Panamá, a sailboat on a delivery voyage met this little Kuna indian boy with a cleft lip in September, 2008, living with his family on a tiny island in the Holandes Cayes of the San Blas. After leaving Panamá, two sailors on board this sailboat made it their mission to find this boy again and get him help.
Months later, through the help of a radio network of sailors still in the San Blas, several boats answered our call for help, and agreed to search for the boy on the island where we had first met him. After arriving at the island, the sailors found it abandoned, but with the help of other Kuna indians in the area, other sailors tracked down this little boy in late March, 2009, now living on a different island about 17 miles away. It was a very good day!
Surprisingly, when these sailors located our boy and his family, they also met a second Kuna boy with a cleft lip living on the same island! We now had a double mission!
We raised money last year for the boys' surgeries that were scheduled for May, 2009. However, those surgeries were canceled due to an H1N1 outbreak in Panama.
Finally, in April of 2010, 19 months after meeting him, we learn that the boy we first met, Abdias Velasquez, has had his surgery at a mission in David, Panama. We are still waiting to hear about the other boy, Inaniguipe Gonzales.
We hope that the sailing community and other generous souls will now step forward to help contribute to Operation Smile and defray the costs of the surgery for these two kids, plus two more "unknown Kuna" who no doubt need our help.
Little people with big hearts.
The Kuna indians live in a cluster of small islands off the Caribbean coast of Panamá. Nearly all Kuna maintain a native lifestyle, living in small huts made from palm tree materials.
Some of the islands they live on may only have a single hut, and the island itself may be no bigger than a typical backyard in the USA. Other islands are larger, and may have huts very densely spaced on the island.
The Kuna are the second shortest group of people in the world - only the Pygmies are shorter. Despite their small stature, they stand tall with us, as they are welcoming hosts to sailor guests in their land.
*** Donate a Surgery, receive a Kuna mola ! ***
Molas are a native Kuna handicraft - a highly embroidered square of cloth which the Kuna women wear on their dresses. We have a few molas which we bought from the Kuna while in the San Blas. Several of these were made by the very family that we are trying to help.
To any donor who donates $240.00 or more to our fund (the cost of an Operation Smile surgery), we will send you one of these unique handicrafts. Free shipping, too. Please make sure that you include your email in the donation information so that we can contact you regarding delivery instructions. And, make sure that you donate by clicking on the button under our thermometer, so your contribution is credited to our effort.
Take a look at our Donation Reward Gifts link in the PHOTO PAGES section at: http://goo.gl/ApsU8X
Timeline of the story..
2008:
9/17
We sail through the Holandes Cayes in the San Blas Islands. The first Kuna family we meet paddles out to our boat in their dugout canoe to do some mola trading. One of the little boys in this family has a cleft lip. We sail on the next day, but we can't forget this little guy!
10/14
Our sailboat is in Golfito, Costa Rica, for repairs. Two crewmen on the sailboat resolve to find the Kuna child with the cleft lip. Emails go out from Golfito, Costa Rica, the same day to several cleft lip charities, OS among them.
11/20
Back in the USA now, the team makes a great contact with OS in the USA (Beth!) who agrees to make efforts to find the child. We send maps of the island where the family lives, & photos of the family & child to OS.
11/24
Giovanna, Jorge, & Maluz at OS in Panamá (OSP) get involved, & start the search for the Kuna boy with the aid of the maps & photos we sent.
11/2008-03/2009
OSP searches for the Kuna child. They radio to several islands, and even call the health coordinator in the San Blas. They have had no success in finding the child, even though they have tried many avenues.
2009:
3/22
We decide to try to find the boy by networking through radio & email to sailboats in the San Blas islands.
3/23
We email several sailor friends & discuss how best to network to boats to find the boy. We inform Maluz at OSP that the sailors are going to search directly for the child. Our sailor friends begin a web thread at http://goo.gl/F9TpKE to appeal for help with the search.
3/24
Radio email messages are sent out to 8 sailboats that we were able to locate as being in or near the San Blas islands. We send out the island coordinates where we had met the family.
3/25
Several boats reply: The coordinates we sent had a typographical error & did not make sense. We re-send the correct coordinates of the island to the boats. Boats in the San Blas begin discussing the situation on the morning "cruisers nets". S/V Alaya & S/V Tara Vana go to the island where we had met the family. But, it is learned from the local Kuna that the family has now now moved to another island.
3/26
Radio messages go out from sailboat to sailboat to find someone near the island where the family has moved to. S/V Legacy is near that island, and goes ashore. The Kuna call the island Niadup, but most people in Panamá call the island Tikantiki.
Heather & Chris on S/V Legacy speak to German Jimenez, the Congresso Secretary on Ticantiki. German takes them to a Kuna home whose child has a cleft lip. But, it is discovered that they were not actually the family that we were looking for. However, that Kuna family knew the family that we were seeking, & so they were found as well, both families living on the same island. Fantastic news! Word gets back to us in the USA, & we celebrate.
3/27
We send the news about locating the children to OS in the USA & Panamá.
3/30
Beth at OS in USA asks us to help with fund raising.
3/31
This web page is started, & the campaign to raise $1000.00 begins. We choose this amount to cover our two Kuna kids, plus two more.
4/1
OSP are successful in contacting the Congresso Secretary on Ticantiki.
4/2
OSP speaks to the families of the cleft lip children on Ticantiki.
4/3
OSP asks sailors to help move the children to Narganá for a medical evaluation.
4/4-5
More radio email messages are sent to sailboats in San Blas. George Salley on S/V Southern Belle agrees to help with the transport if necessary.
4/7
We learn from Maluz at OSP that one family has already traveled to PC, & will see a doctor there. We still need to move the other mother & son to Narganá for the Dr. visit.
4/9
We contact Kathia Castillo at Matchship in Panamá to get some local help. Matchship agrees to pay for airfare for a family for transport, & help with any translation services.
4/10
Jim Eddy, Commodore of the Emeryville Yacht Club, made the contribution that finally "busted the thermometer". Thanks, Jim, and to everyone who made this happen.
4/15
We learn that Ticantiki has a boat to transport the mother & son to Narganá, but the boat has no gasoline!
4/16
We track down Chris MacPherson, president of VIDA, in Utah. Chris knows many people on Ticantiki & Narganá, & agrees to use his great contacts there to find a boat to transport the boy to Narganá.
4/20
Our Kuna boy sees Dr. Carlos Reyes on Narganá. He is given some vitamins to correct a low hemoglobin level. We learn that this boy's name is Inaniguipe González.
4/21
We search for transport options from Ticantiki to PC for Inaniguipe & his mom.
4/29
We learn the name of the boy we first met: Abdias Velasquez. He will see Dr. Carlos De Leon in PC tomorrow.
5/5
We learn that the surgical mission in Panamá has been postponed due to the Swine Flu.
2010:
4/19
Finally, great news after a long wait - Abdias had his surgery today! Good luck, little man!
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