It may not be the first Spanish word she learned, but “corazon,” or “heart,” holds a special place in Jill Fawcett’s vocabulary.
Since Thanksgiving, Fawcett cared for a 1½-year-old girl from Ecuador who traveled to the United States to undergo surgery to repair a hole in her heart. Her trip and procedure were made possible by Mending Kids International, an organization dedicated to providing care to children with serious medical conditions from countries all over the world.
Fawcett, a San Clemente resident, recently escorted Angie back to her family in Ecuador after a successful surgery and recovery. It wasn’t Fawcett’s first trip to Ecuador. She traveled there last March on a mission trip and “fell in love with the people,” she said.
Her decision to learn Spanish came in June, when she became frustrated with the language barrier on a trip to the Dominican Republic. She said part of her motivation to learn Spanish was to be able to tell Angie’s family how much she enjoyed being her host.
“It was frustrating because I wanted to be able to tell Angie’s parents how much I love her, and it’s hard to be able to express that,” Fawcett said. “I’m 47 and it’s hard to learn a language. I want to be able to call Angie’s mom someday and ask how she’s doing.”
Mending Kids International, based in Santa Clarita, places most of its patients with host families in Los Angeles. Fewer families in Orange County apply to host children because all medical procedures are performed in Los Angeles hospitals, said Cristina Farrut, a social worker at Mending Kids. She estimated five or six families in Orange County have hosted children. However, if an Orange County family were willing to make the drive to Los Angeles for care, it would not be discouraged, she said.
Ron Van Winkle, consultant to Mending Kids International, said there are no arrangements between the organization and hospitals in Orange County, though it is a possibility. This would open host opportunities for many more families, he said. For now, Mending Kids International arranges medical care for children at Los Angeles-area hospitals, as dictated by a large private donation.
“We would never (turn down a family), because there are thousands of kids waiting to come and we can only handle a few at a time,” Van Winkle said.
Fawcett knows two other local families who are involved in the program. She first learned about the organization from a friend who hosted a boy from Haiti. With her oldest child in college and her second leaving in the fall, Fawcett was excited to have a little girl around. First, though, she needed her husband’s support.
“I thought my husband would say, ‘No, you’re too busy,’ but he said that night, ‘Of course, you have to do this,'” Fawcett said. “When it’s life or death, you have to do it.”
Fawcett’s friends also supported her by providing child care for Angie. One of her friends, Laura Knoop, was closely involved in Angie’s care. She was inspired by Fawcett to host a child herself and is expecting the arrival of a baby boy from the Philippines soon.
“I’m looking forward to just being able to love another kid when his mom can’t be there,” Knoop said. “I can’t imagine, as a mother, handing over my child to a stranger when he’s got to have heart surgery.”
Besides the joys of caring for a young child, Van Winkle acknowledges that many families face challenges such as attachment and dealing with medical obstacles.
“There’s also the normal wear and tear on these families that comes with having someone in the family who is gravely ill,” he said. “The families face that prospect, knowing full well that at the end of the line there could be great joy and happiness, but also great sadness.”
For Fawcett, the experience has been a blessing. While she is sad to see Angie go, she is thrilled that the girl can go back to her family in good health.
Fawcett said she plans to host another child soon.
“I want to see more host families step up to the plate,” she said. “We have the luxury that our kids can get good medical attention, and if they have heart problems, they will get through them. It’s not that way in a lot of other countries.”
For more information about Mending Kids International, visit www.mendingkids.org.
