By Shermakaye Bass

Matagalpa, Nicaragua/Austin, Texas —

Greetings, friends of Fara Foundation and Fara Clinic. This year marked the fifth anniversary of Fara Foundation as an American NGO, as well as the  fifth birthday of Fara Clinic in Matagalpa, Nicaragua.

We would like to thank several individuals and groups in particular as we reach this benchmark. And our apologies for this delayed acknowledgement, due to technical difficulties with our website. We cannot fully express our gratitude for all the work and energy that have been donated to the hard-working people of Nicaragua over the years, and giant kudos go out to Amigos de Salud led by Dr. Nick Morrison, the Venkatesh group, Global Partners, the Dr. Stephen Reeder group, and Faith and Partners. And of course, to our talented and dedicated Clinica Fara staff. The particulars…

The ongoing efforts of Amigos de Salud resulted in our most
wide-reaching medical mission to date, August 1-7th, 2015, in Nicaragua. More than medical and volunteer/assistant staff participated in the late summer brigade. The international contingent consisted of Americans, Italians, Australians, Nicaraguans and Argentinians, who together saw more than 900 vascular patients, administering three different procedures to treat the debilitating vein disease so common in the region: phlebectomy, ultrasound-guided laser, and radio-frequency procedures.

We’d like to take this opportunity to thank each individual in the Amigos bridgade: Dr. Donald Nicholas Morrison; Terri Morrison; Dr. Kathleen Dorothy Gibson; Harper Elizabeth Klusman; Jeanne Klein; Matthew Klein; Jacqueline Ann McGrath; Amy Schroeder; Dr. Stefania Maria Assunta Roberts; Amy May Clough; Dr. Fausto Campana; Dr. Simone Ugo Urso; Dr. Giovanni Mosti; Dr. Sergio Gianesini; Paolo Spath; Laura Lynn Haller; Serena Renee Haller; Madison Diane Bermudez Houle; Diana Neuhardt; Dr. Miguel Angel Rios; Merrie Gay Leiderman; Andrea Faye Brennan; Joseph John Brennan; Anthony Jakubowski; Terri Jakubowski; Lorenzo Fortuna; Michele Fortuna; and Carla Kaufmann.

Through the efforts of teams like this, many thousands (more than 10,000!) have been treated specifically for vein disease over the past five years. Without the help of such top-notch healthcare specialists, we couldn’t possibly have reached this number. All we can say is, thank you. Thank you everyone. We love each one of you and look forward to continuing our collaborations in 2016.

On the foundation side, we would like to express our deepest appreciation and love to our staff at Clinica Fara:

Our tireless leader in Nicaragua, Marcela Cisne-Zadik; clinic director Alberto Zeledonur; head physician Dr .Freddy Espinoza; staff doctors Dra. Ruth Rocha (thanks Doctor Ruth, who handles all after-care from the brigades!!); Dra. Flavia Soza; and Dra. Jammy Corrales; along with our phenomenal clinic team,  Martha Castro; Rosibel Blandon; Lucy Guzman; Yara Espinoza; and Maria Herrera;  to donor and supporter Walter Bravo of Mayoreo del Norte and special thanks to volunteers Marlene Cisne of Matagalpa; and Maria Cisne Farahani; and Leila Farahani of Austin.