By Father Charles KENNEDY

Evelyn is a girl from Peru.
When she heard on the radio that
a medical mission team was coming
to her town, she asked her
mom if they could go to see if
she could get a filling for one of
her teeth. By the time they went
to the center they found out that
no more fillings were available —
although teeth could still be
pulled. Evelyn did not want to
lose the tooth, but asked if someone
could check on a pain she
had in her back.
The doctors found out that she
had heart damage. It was something
that had been diagnosed
when she was 2 years old, but
nothing could be done until she
was 8. Now that intervention was
failing.

The surgery could not be done in
Lima, so the organizer of the medical
mission effort from St. Ignatius
in Yardley convinced the staff of St.
Mary Medical Center, Langhorne,
to agree to help the girl.
Upon Evelyn’s arrival in the U.S., it
was determined that her heart was
too damaged to attempt surgery.
The doctors at St. Mary Medical
prescribed a medication that Evelyn
must use for a year, to prepare her
heart for surgery.
While Evelyn was her here, a dentist
from the parish took care of her
tooth problem. Her host family (the
mother is originally from Cuba) got
very attached to Evelyn, and to her
mother, although their stay in the
U.S. lasted a month rather than the
anticipated week.
A sponsor who learned of Evelyn
through an article in the Catholic
Standard and Times offered to
give her a scholarship at the University
at Lima, and children at
neighboring parishes have sent
letters of prayer support. Evelyn
and her mother have said how
wonderful everyone has been.
While she was here, Evelyn's
mom was knitting caps for the
troops in Iraq for a local group. It
is so rewarding to see how many
people have stepped up to help a
family in difficulty, and to see
how they have tried to answer
our needs.
Please keep Evelyn in your
prayers, as she is a very special
girl whose life is very precarious,
but who is very grateful for all
the kindness that has been
shown to her .

Father Charles Kennedy,10/19/2007