CHILDSPRING INTERNATIONAL INC
Mission Statement
There is an urgent global need for pediatric surgery in developing countries. It is estimated that approximately 2 billion people worldwide lack access to basic, low-cost, life-saving surgical care and services. Pediatric surgery is often overlooked and considered to be non-essential in most developing countries, even though such surgeries can be effectively used to prevent death or correct deformities in children. With cases of injuries such as burns and accidents, over 875,000 children die annually and even more are left physically challenged. By preventing people from working, injuries and other surgically repairable conditions have contributed to creating a vicious cycle of poverty in these nations. 81% of all support goes directly to support the care of the children Childspring serves. To date, Childspring International has helped over 2,700 children and their families. These surgical procedures enable the children to become greater contributors to the world, which has a tremendous global impact.
About This Cause
Childspring International is a 501(c)3 nonprofit that evolved from the efforts of medical missionary teams to improve the health conditions of impoverished El Salvadoran children in 1985. Overwhelmed by the number of children they were unable to treat, these missionaries sought help from doctors and hospitals in the United States. In 2001, Rose Emily Bermudez was the first Executive Director of the mission committee of the First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta. Ms. Bermudez and a team of board members decided to create an organization to help address the medical concerns of these suffering children. In 2001, the nonprofit Children’s Cross Connection was established to coordinate these efforts. In 2006, the name Children’s Cross Connection was changed to Childspring International. Since that time, Childspring has served over 2,700 children from more than 42 developing countries through its network of international and domestic medical partnerships. Our mission is to provide life-changing surgeries for children in developing countries and as a result transform communities. We define life-changing surgeries as procedures that allow children to gain basic levels of functionality with one surgical treatment plan. We believe that all children deserve good health, dignity, and the opportunity to participate fully in their communities. Through Childspring, children’s physical challenges are overcome with health. Family worries are replaced with joy, and communities gain active, eager participants in school and life. The vision of Childspring International is to become the leading facilitator of free life-saving interventive surgeries for children in need, resulting in 5,000 transformed children's lives throughout the global community by the year 2024. This will in turn impact millions of families and communities because the impact of changing one child’s future has a profound and positive ripple effect. Lives lost mean reduced economic productivity as well as personal tragedy. By preventing people from working, injuries and other surgically repairable conditions have contributed to creating a vicious cycle of poverty in these nations. In countries burdened by illness billions of dollars of economic activity are lost each year. In developing countries access is limited or beyond the reach of so many families. The cost of doctors’ fees, pharmaceuticals and transportation to reach a health center can be economically devastating, both for the children and their relatives who need to care for them. In the worst cases, the burden of illness may mean that families sell their property, take children out of school to earn a living, or even start begging. Our staff works closely with talented and generous doctors, hospitals and other health care providers. They offer their medical expertise and hope for children around the world. We work tirelessly to increase the number of children and families we serve annually. With the spread of Childspring’s ability to help children in developing countries, we constantly have a long list of children waiting for surgery. OUR PROGRAMS Program Name: Projects Healthy Heart, Heartbeat & Soaring Hearts Through these three programs we served 52 children (15.29%) IN 2015. Each program signifies a specific area within Colombia or El Salvador. • Through Project Healthy Hearts we screen children in urban Colombia semi-annually who are living with heart conditions. Heart surgeries are performed each month as a result of these screenings. Additionally, our services include providing ongoing prescription medication and transportation as needed. • Project Heartbeat identifies and treats children in rural Colombia with heart conditions, which not only includes surgery fees but recovery fees as well. • Our Project Soaring Hearts is a program which provides surgery for Salvadoran children. These children are flown to Germany for their surgical procedure. Program Name: Project Bridges Project Bridges Haiti, Project Change for Children, Project Bridges Honduras, Project Bridges El Salvador & Project Bridges U.S. Our Project Bridges programs allow us to broaden the medical services we provide to the children and their families. The medical care provided through these programs varies depending on the condition of the sick or injured child. Often these are surgical procedures that are outside the scope of our specialized procedures. Through these 5 programs, we our medical partners were able to perform 11 (3.2%) surgeries IN 2015. • Through our Project Bridges Haiti program we connect Haitian children, who need surgical intervention other than hernias, with medical care in their home country. • Project Change for Children provides surgeries for children in Comayagua, Honduras. These surgeries include plastics, orthopedics, general, ENT and Ophthalmology. • Project Bridges Honduras connects Honduran children with medical care in their home country, while providing the same general surgeries as we provide through our Project Change for Children Program in a different region in Honduras. • The Project Bridges Salvador connects Salvadoran children with care for conditions outside the scope of our specialized Ophthalmology services. • Through Project Bridges U.S. we create pathways to care in the United States for children whose conditions cannot be treated in their home country. These surgeries are severe or require complex medical treatment. Project 365 • Performs an average of 12 surgeries per month for children with hernias in Haiti. Last year we performed 190 (55.9%) of the total number of children we served. Program Name: Project Little Eyes & Project Sonrisas Between these two programs we were able to serve 27 (8%) children and their families IN 2015. • Our Project Little Eyes project provides eye exams, surgery and glasses for Salvadoran children with eye conditions. This surgical partner performs strabismus and ptosis surgeries for children from the most indigent families. • Project Sonrisas provides surgery for children with cleft lips and palates Childspring evaluates the progress of each child to ensure that the child continues to prosper after medical treatment. This is accomplished by providing funds for that child’s continuing medical needs and for their continued education in a Christian school for the children on our Scholarship Program. Financial support is sent through our international coordinators who report back on the progress of that child. Childspring International also facilitates the development of medical treatment in developing countries. We collaborate with U.S. doctors to train and teach doctors in countries such as Honduras and Ecuador to perform the surgeries on their own and often supply the necessary medical equipment. Each time these doctors report back to Childspring to discuss their successes and provide recommendations for future projects. Whenever appropriate, Childspring focuses on serving children in their home country rather than bring them to the U.S. This not only decreases costs, but maintains the same quality of medical care and allows us to serve more children. This international medical sustainability is achieved because of the partnerships that we have developed and maintained for over ten years. Childspring International continues to look for innovative ideas in enhancing medical treatment around the world as the medical field is rapidly evolving. We continue to analyze our infrastructure and develop new partnerships so that more and more children can experience the wonder of medicine and the miracle of God’s love. In order to assure we meet our mission, we restrict our overhead expenditures to essential priorities in order to help the highest number of children get the surgical care they need to live. In 2015, Childspring International helped 340 children and their families around the world. When needed, Childspring provides funds for that child’s continuing medical needs and, in some cases, for their continued education. Although the path to eradicating poverty is long, the end goal is possible.