Heart Changing

Every time we assemble a mission team, we think about far more than what happens in the operating room. We think about the chemistry, who will work well together, who will connect with our patient families, and who can make the experience meaningful for everyone involved, both medical and nonmedical.
 
For this mission, longtime Mending Kids board member Dorothy Lucey was selected to lead the team. We thought it would be nice to share El Salvador through her eyes.
 
These are her reflections:

Mia is 3. She has pink cheeks, but blue lips and finger tips. Her heart doesn’t pump enough oxygen for her body. This beautiful toddler could have a blood clot or a stroke. Mia and her mommy took a 16-hour bus ride (16 hours, with a toddler) from Honduras to El Salvador looking for help. We took a 6-hour plane ride to provide that help. Mending Kids sent a surgeon, an anesthesiologist, a nurse, 3 cardiologists, and 3 volunteers to save Mia. And many other kids with blue lips & finger tips.  
 
Our lead cardiologist, Dr Jenny Zablah, is from El Salvador. What joy to return home, visit her parents, and save 10 lives. Dr Z and her team wear  25 pounds of lead when they are working in the Cath lab. They look like gladiators. And they are. Using X-ray technology, they basically perform open-heart surgery without opening the chest. While saving lives, they are also teaching new techniques to the local doctors.  
 
The kids feel no pain. They can finally take a deep breath, and they go home with pink lips and finger tips the next day.  
 
I was not there to perform this miracle. As mission coordinator, my job was to make sure the doctors had TP and Snickers Bars (and all the medical equipment they needed). Part of my job is playing with the kids  (and praying with the parents). Mia and I spent many hours coloring.  Laura and Ellen, the other two volunteers, gave out stuffed bears, love  and hundreds of lollipops.  
 
People like to say mission trips are life-changing. I call them (absolutely no pun intended) heart-changing.  

I went to El Salvador because a piece of my heart is there. Thirteen years ago, I was asked to be a host mom.  
 
When Mending Kids brings a child to the US, the host mom is the  “mom” (also nurse & Uber driver) while the child recovers from surgery.  
 
My family was asked to host Sandra, a 12-year-old from El Salvador. Immediately we said yes. Then on PCH, on my way to the airport to pick her up, I had a (mild) panic attack. I told God (like he didn’t know) that my Spanish sucked & I was no nurse. I asked for a sign that I could do this. The sky lit up with fireworks. Since it wasn’t the 4th of July, I took it as my sign. Moments later, I got a flat tire, so mixed messages. The first place I took Sandra was a gas station. She had never been in a car before (& they sent her to LA)!  
 
She was with us for four months. Thankfully, my son’s Spanish was excellent. He wasn’t home the day she asked for salchicha. I had to  phone a friend to learn my girl wanted a hot dog,  
 
Sandra healed beautifully from 2 surgeries. After endless hours of Barbie and 2 trips to Disneyland, I sent her home.  
 
Two years later I volunteered on a mission to El Salvador. Sandra stayed with me. We both volunteered at the hospital.  
 
But then…for 10 years, nothing. I didn't know if she was alive or dead.  One day, there was a Facebook request! She was a happy, healthy 25-year-old mommy of two, who had a phone & WiFi!  
 
I went from wondering about her to getting daily photos.  
 
When Isabelle asked me to lead this mission in El Salvador, I was honored  & thrilled.  
 
Sandra and her 2 kids took a 3-hour bus ride to meet me in San Salvador.  We spent 3 days together. There were hugs, tears, and Barbie tea parties with her daughter.  
 
Each year, Mending Kids has a hike to raise money and awareness. We walk 5 miles because that’s how far many of our family members have to go to find me medical care.  
 
When I hike this year, I’ll be thinking about my Sandra, who took a 3-hour bus ride with 2 kids to see me. And I’ll think about Mia’s mommy. 16 hours on a bus with a toddler. But a toddler who will now live a full life. Mia is a mended kid. 

Mend a Child

---

Hike 2 Mend - save the date - 10.03.2026

Register for Free & Donate