Help 5-year-old Kevin from Bolivia beat leukemia!
Donation protected
Dear friends,
Our five-year-old godson, Kevin, is in the final stages of treatment for leukemia and has a very good chance of living a cancer-free life if he receives a bone marrow transplant in short order. Unfortunately the transplant procedure is not available in Bolivia so we are raising funds to help send him and his mother to Chile for treatment.
Kevin was born in May of 2015 in Cochabamba, Bolivia - Ale’s and my hometown. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia two weeks shy of turning three and his treatment has lasted longer than it should have due to drug shortages compounded by corruption, infighting, political & social unrest and the Covid shutdown. All the same, almost three years into it Kevin remains a cheerful, spirited boy and an unwitting inspiration to all who witness his fight.
Kevin, at about 2 years old
Kevin’s mother Crecencia Tomás (Cristi) and her six sisters are from Pisakeri, a small farming village nestled in the high Andes where most of its ~160 inhabitants only speak Quechua - a language thought to predate English by over 1,200 years. Cristi and three of her sisters moved to the city and worked with us for years. They have been in my life for almost as long as I can remember and Cristi was the first of her entire lineage to ever finish high school. She then attended night school and earned a programming degree. Becoming a young single mother to Kevin did not stop her from building a small business which was thriving before Kevin's diagnosis turned their world upside down.
Family picnic in the Andean highlands close to Cristi's village.
Cristi is a proud Andean woman and if you ever meet her, you will sense an endless well of peaceful courage that seems to make everything possible. She is committed to her son's recovery and as a co-founder of the Cochabamba Association of Parents of Children With Cancer, she has taken on the enormous responsibility of leading other families facing the same challenge. Under her leadership the Association has been instrumental in successfully advocating for the needs of dozens of families through the endless mazes of Bolivian bureaucracy. She has recently stepped down from her leadership role to focus on getting Kevin across the finish line.
A bone marrow transplant is the last, most complicated and expensive step of his treatment. As a non-resident, Kevin does not qualify for Chile's public healthcare system and they will need to pay for all expenses out-of-pocket.
Please consider donating - there really is no such thing as too little. You should know that Cristi can stretch a dollar like no one you will ever meet and any funds not used towards Kevin’s treatment will be put to good use helping other children with cancer.
We are ever so grateful for your generosity and kindly ask that you help Kevin by spreading this message so it may reach as many people as possible.
With love,
Ale & Simon
Our five-year-old godson, Kevin, is in the final stages of treatment for leukemia and has a very good chance of living a cancer-free life if he receives a bone marrow transplant in short order. Unfortunately the transplant procedure is not available in Bolivia so we are raising funds to help send him and his mother to Chile for treatment.
Kevin was born in May of 2015 in Cochabamba, Bolivia - Ale’s and my hometown. He was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia two weeks shy of turning three and his treatment has lasted longer than it should have due to drug shortages compounded by corruption, infighting, political & social unrest and the Covid shutdown. All the same, almost three years into it Kevin remains a cheerful, spirited boy and an unwitting inspiration to all who witness his fight.
Kevin, at about 2 years oldKevin’s mother Crecencia Tomás (Cristi) and her six sisters are from Pisakeri, a small farming village nestled in the high Andes where most of its ~160 inhabitants only speak Quechua - a language thought to predate English by over 1,200 years. Cristi and three of her sisters moved to the city and worked with us for years. They have been in my life for almost as long as I can remember and Cristi was the first of her entire lineage to ever finish high school. She then attended night school and earned a programming degree. Becoming a young single mother to Kevin did not stop her from building a small business which was thriving before Kevin's diagnosis turned their world upside down.
Family picnic in the Andean highlands close to Cristi's village.Cristi is a proud Andean woman and if you ever meet her, you will sense an endless well of peaceful courage that seems to make everything possible. She is committed to her son's recovery and as a co-founder of the Cochabamba Association of Parents of Children With Cancer, she has taken on the enormous responsibility of leading other families facing the same challenge. Under her leadership the Association has been instrumental in successfully advocating for the needs of dozens of families through the endless mazes of Bolivian bureaucracy. She has recently stepped down from her leadership role to focus on getting Kevin across the finish line.
A bone marrow transplant is the last, most complicated and expensive step of his treatment. As a non-resident, Kevin does not qualify for Chile's public healthcare system and they will need to pay for all expenses out-of-pocket.
Please consider donating - there really is no such thing as too little. You should know that Cristi can stretch a dollar like no one you will ever meet and any funds not used towards Kevin’s treatment will be put to good use helping other children with cancer.
We are ever so grateful for your generosity and kindly ask that you help Kevin by spreading this message so it may reach as many people as possible.
With love,
Ale & Simon
Organizer
Simon Dibos
Organizer
Los Angeles, CA