ICON - International Children's Outreach Network

09/04/2016

We visited Miserlech and family in Yabello. Her niece was one of our early club foot patients and she has helped us find as assist other kids many times over the years. Here, Dell prepares to share a group photo he just took.

08/30/2016

08/29/2016

We reconnected with several ICON patients and partners in Addis Ababa today. Including two of our longtime kids: Kussi and Sami.

We met up with Kussi, now goes by Joseph, at his home with the Voice for the Street Children group. Joseph had clubbed feet as a child and had very limited use of his legs. He is now is doing very, walking with no visible issues. He is also excelling in school having finished #1 in his class in mathematics. As a surprise we took him shopping for new clothes and shoes, which he really got a kick out of.

Sami is the little girl whose facial surgeries ICON facilitated. She is doing wonderfully as well. She is just as bubbly and inquisitive as ever and averaged 95% in her past year at the Selam school where she is currently a resident student and is looking forward to beginning English studies in her next year at school.

05/23/2015

Sudanese Refugee Anyang

Anyang’s story has been developing since last May when we received an e-mail message from our wonderful plastic surgeon and longtime friend, Dr. Einar Eriksen. He said he had agreed to provide plastic surgery for a young refugee girl living in South Sudan. She is 15 years old and had lost all of her scalp and much of her skull as the result of an insidious flesh destroying infection. He was prepared to provide her with skin graft surgery but she needed air transport from Juba, South Sudan, to Addis “Ababa, Ethiopia. Would ICON be able to cover the cost of bringing her and an older brother to Addis? The U.S. charitable organ-ization which was sponsoring her had run out of funds paying for her hospitalization in Juba. It was an obvious decision for our Board. As one member stated, “Of course—that’s what we do—we save lives!’. So the deed was done and I actually was able to meet them upon arrival in Addis Ababa and see that she was immediately admitted to the hospital.
She soon received a preliminary operation designed to prepare her for a massive skin graft to cover her open head wound. Dr. Einar covered her head by doing two skin grafts in mid-August. The skin grafts were tolerated by Anyang but small pustules of infection began to appear in September. Several antibiotics were administered by IV but the infection continued for several weeks. Finally in mid-December, it was determined that she could leave the hospital and continue her recovery in a relatively uncontaminated environment. She requires clean bandages and can take her antibiotic medicine orally. Here again, our steadfast partner, Alemachen re-hab center came through for us by finding a bed for her. Anyang’s 23 year old brother, Mel, is still on the job caring for his sister. He is fluent in English and probably has learned Amharic by now so he helps teach the club foot patients who make up the normal contingent of kids at Alemachen.

05/23/2015

The Hailu Aberra Story

In our early days, travelers would often meet young people who asked for assistance to go to school. The traveler agreed to sponsor the student and donated the funds to ICON. We then paid the funds to a boarding school or to the student. We had mixed results with this program. Some of the students did very—others did not.
Hailu Aberra started as a grade school student and graduated from tourism college and returned home to Lalibela, a famous tourist destination and became a very successful tour guide. Hailu has recently adopted two children who lost their parents to HIV—a 12 year old boy and a 9 year old girl. They are from different families and live in the rural countryside. They will live in a missionary orphanage and Hailu will pay all costs of their care and schooling. He said to Virginia, “What you did changed my life. You gave me a future and I wanted to do that for someone, too”. What a fine young man he has become—we are pleased to have been of assistance.

09/23/2014

We are often asked for news about “Sami”. It has been almost three years since she returned to Ethiopia from her eight month stay in New Jersey while she was having surgery to remove a huge venous mal-formation on her face. She spent a year and a half visiting her family in a very remote mountain village. She was unable to attend school because it was too far from her home. We searched for a suitable boarding school and were finally able to locate a place for her in a highly respected school in Addis Ababa—Selam Children’s Village and School. Sami was admitted for the 2013-2014 school year. She did very well for a child who knew no language but her tribal language. She did not know Amharic and had forgotten her English. She likes the school and has quickly learned Amharic. Her American host family has generously under-written her education. We are sure she will do her part—she is a very smart little girl.

09/15/2014

Last October, Andy Cline, a former ICON Board member was visiting the Simien Mts. park in the North of Ethiopia. While there he saw a lady with a baby begging by the road. She held the baby up to show that he had a large swelling on his lower abdomen. Andy said that he would try to find help for the baby. He took pictures but lost the lady’s name. Time passed as we tried to locate the mother. This was accomplished in July and we had them flown to Addis. They arrived the day after I did wearing what can only be described as rags. The baby was immediately admitted to the hospital after being diagnosed as having a rupture in his abdomen. He received his operation and they flew home in some new clothes after a short stay. "Andy's Boy" is picture in his new clothes below. The mother was very pleased to have a healthy baby at last. We were pleased that we were able to keep Andy’s promise to find help for the boy. One more life saved.

09/14/2014

We continue to find children born with one or both feet afflicted with this disability. In addition to the initial treatment to straighten the foot it is necessary to have regular checkups to fit new shoes and leg braces for growing children. Pictured here is a group of four kids and our volunteer care-takers who brought the kids to Addis Ababa for measurement and production of new braces. Our care-takers, Hirbo and Miserlech, are a great help in accomplishing this task. Both have children who had club foot operations several years ago.

11/12/2011

Here is the latest photo of Sami, after the majority of surgeries have been accomplished. There is still some dental and other processes that need completing, but she is well on her way!!

09/27/2011

Visit www.iconforkids.org for more information on what ICON does. We will be adding more content soon. Thanks again for thinking about the work ICON does.

International Children’s Outreach Network (ICON) is a non-profit, non-sectarian charitable organization dedicated to providing medical support and educational opportunities to deserving children. We are not restricted as to where we may operate, however, we currently concentrate our efforts on proje...

09/08/2011

Check out this story! Spread the good word, and thank you everyone for your support.
http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/09/07/ethiopian-girl-4-is-brought-to-us-for-life-changing-surgery/?cmpid=cmty_email_Gigya_Ethiopian_Girl%2C_4%2C_Is_Brought_to_U.S._for_Life-Changing_Surgery

Four-year-old Sami is from a rural village in Ethiopia where little or no medical care is available. This is an especially dire situation for her because she was born with a venous malformation – a condition, which if left untreated, can be deadly. Fortunately, fate stepped in, and Sami was discover...

01/08/2011

Actually, the place to order coffee AND support ICON is this link. Thanks for all your support!