Bladimir wants to be a plastic surgeon someday. It seems he wants to be in a profession where he can help others like himself. His proficiency with mathematics and foreign language (English) should help him in this pursuit. Right now though, Bladimir likes football but cannot play. He stays home much of the time because his travels to town invariably lead to taunting from other children and curiosity about his appearance.

August 23 Update

Bladimir has suffered the first major setback in his lengthy treatment. The bone that was removed from his hip and inserted in his jaw has become infected. Dr. Gomez will evaluate the situation on Friday, August 29th to determine if it will be necessary to remove the bone and redo the surgery. Pleaswe pray that the infection clears up before then so bladimir will not need to endure yet another serious operation.

July 29 Update

Bladimir has received a fourth major surgery on Jul,y 24th. This surgery removed bone from his hip to repair previous work on the right mandible (jaw bone). The children at the Help and Hope Center were very interested in bladimir's treatment and I was able to give them updatges on my recent trip to Rubio.

April 20 Update

It has been a huge week for Bladimir. On Saturday, April 12th, he participated in a dinner where couples could hear a detailed version of his miraculous journey. Sunday, April 13th, he presented an encapsulated version of the story to the Chain of Lakes Community Bible Church along with Andean Aid President Wayne Cramer. Monday, April 14th, he headed back to Miami to participate as a guest speaker at an International Kid's Fund contributor luncheon on Wednesday, April 16th. All that and he was still able to return to Illinois on Thursday, April 17th, to celebrate his birthday with his mother.

Feliz cumpleaños Bladimir – you are an insiration to us all!

April 10 Update

Bladimir returns to Miami Monday, April 14^th for an International Kid's Fund luncheon on April 16^th. He will return to Illinois April 17^th to clelbrate his birthday with his mother. View two new videos of Bladimir enjoying his first time in the snow and congratulating Gaby Andrade our Help and Hope Center Director on her pregnancy.

April 3 Update

Bladimir and his mother Aydee have been in Illinois for six weeks now. I want to give a huge thank you to the Todd Kearney family for providing them not only accomodation but a home. They have truly become part of the family. Bladimir and Aydee have had several opportunities to share the testimony of their miraculous journey. There are several more opportunities to share before they return to Miami on May 7^th.

Bladimir had plenty of opportunity to enjoy our long and snowy winter. It's quite a contrast to his home in Rubio where they had a record breaking col of 56 degrees farenheit this winter. Please view the new photo gallery of Bladimir's Illinois visit.

March 4 Update

Bladimir is enjoying his stay in Illinois in spite of the artic climate here. This past Saturday he and his mother aydee tried their hand at sledding. The hills were great and the weather fairly warm. I had to drag him off the hill. Photos and video will follow soon.

February 11 Update

Bladimir and his mother Aydee arrive in Illinois for a three month stay to recuperate and help promote the work of Andean Aid. He is scheduled for a fifth surgery on his jaw sometime in May. He is also going to have dental implants installed and may have an additional surgery on his right eye.

December 14 Update

Bladimir is recovering from his fourth major surgery. Dr. Gomez needs to perform one more surgery on his jaw and install implants. Bladimir must recover for five months before this can be performed. The question for Andean aid and International Kid's Fund is do we send him back to Venezuela or keep him here in the U.S.? Please pray that we are given wisdom in how to handle this situation.

October 24 Update

In the next several weeks Bladimir will undergo his third surgery. This operation will correct the placement of his right eye orbit and make some structurla corrections to his nose and nasal passage. After that Dr. gomez would like him to recover and heal for five or six months then return for teeth implants. The schedule for this is not set right now because many factors come into play including travel arrangements and visa extensions. If the five month healing process is necessary then most likely bladimir and his mother will return to Venezuela. He will surely be a testiment to God's power to work miracles and will be a witness to many.

October 9 Update - by Bladimir Gomez

The operation a success and all went very well.  The doctor (Jesus Gomez) reconstructed the jawbone and relocated it to the correct place and now my face looks different.  Very different!  My eye looks a little different but the next surgery will be for my eye.  The recuperation took two weeks.  I couldn’t eat anything because I had wire in my teeth and I could not open my mouth.  Bu now I can eat very well.  I’m very happy and my mother is too.  My cheekbone, my nose and my jaw look very good.  Thank you everyone who has helped me.

Bladimir

September 18 Update

Bladimir is recovering from from his extensive surgery and is doing well enough to help around the International kids fund office. He told Andean Aid President Wayne Cramer that he is trying to adjust to his dramatic change in appearance. His mother Aydee is also adjusting to the looks of the "New Bladimir". Bladimir says that he has experienced no pain but does have some swelling and anticipates that the change in appearance will be even more evident as the swelling subsides. Dr. Gomez is considering several more surgeries. Continue checking this site for updates. We are excited about bringing Bladimir and his mother to the Andean Aid headquarters for a round of visits in the Illinois area.

August 28 Update

...perform the rebuiling of the eye socket and relocation of the right eye and perform the rebuilding of the right mandible (jaw bone) during the same session. Please keep this young man in prayer as he faces this ordeal.

Bladimir demonstrating the location of the new eye socket that will be crafted during the operation.

August 24 Update

Bladimir's transformation will continue in the next several weeks when operation number two takes place. This surgery is very complex . A new eye socket (orbit) will be constucted by Dr. gomez and his team and the eye and optic nerve will be moved to the new location by a team of doctors from the eye institute.

July 13 Update

Bladimir is recovering well from his first surgery. He reports haveing no pain or discomfort which is amazing considering the extent of this operation. He is excited about the changes so far and says that he can breath correctly for ths first time since his nose and nasal passages were adjusted.

Bladimir at International Kids Fund. Executive Director Maria Luisa Chao is at his right.

Ready and prepped for surgery June 28, 2007.

Immediately after surgery.

June 28 Update

Bladimir came out of surgery at approximately 5:00 PM. Doctor gomez is very pleased with the results and plans the next surgery in five weeks. Please keep Bladimir and his mother in prayer as he recovers from surgery.

June 28

Bladimir's new life begins today. His first surgery will bein at 8:30 AM.  This is an extensive surgery.  The upper quadrant of his face will be reshaped and the right eye moved to a location level with the left eye.  Dr. Gomez’s team will reshape the skull and create a new eye socket.  A team from the Bascom Palmer Eye Institute will move the eye and optic nerve.  This is the first of three surgeries. See the video at right for Dr. Gomez presenting the entire treatment plan.

June 18

Bladimir's first surgery is tentatively scheduled for June 28th. Please pray for this young man and the team of doctors that will perform this miracle for him.

April 24

Bladimir and his mother are settling into the Miami area. A van takes residents of The Ronald McDonald House to a local supermarket and there is some donated food at the house. A kind Colombian woman and her family are watching over them regularly. Tom Colandrea and his fiance Ivonne are also showing them some of Miami and getting them to church. Thank god for these people! Bladimir is even helping out at the International Kids Fund office.

Bladimir's transformation will be a testimony to thousands of people both here in the U.S. and in Venezuela to the power of God and how he can use us to change lives.

May 21

Bladimir participated in a press conference last Thursday that was presented in print media and television throughout the Miami area. He impressed me with his poise considering where he comes from. It has been said that God gave Bladimir and extra measure of terrific personality to compensate for his physical problems and I think this is true. Everyone that meets him and looks past the physical deformity likes him. Here are some links for the articles and video from the conference. Bladimir's first surgery should be performed sometime in the next three or four weeks.

Click selection below to view video and articles:

Please remember, Andean Aid took a big step in faith that helping to bring Bladimir and his mother to the U.S. would not negatively impact our other ministries in Venezuela such as the Help and Hope Center, dental care and Christian counseling for families. Our outlay so far has been approximately $5,500.00. Won't you contribute today to ensure our other vital ministries continue?

April 11

It's said that a picture is worth a thousand words, so we have created a photo montage depicting Bladimir's Road to Miami... View Now

And, how many words is a movie worth? Check out the two movies below. Both are best seen with a broadband connection:

Dr. Gomez exam - 3.26 MB View Now

Dr. Gomez presents the treatment plan - 10.3 MB View Now

April 6, 2007

Bladimir and his mother are in Miami and settled in the Ronald McDonald House on the grounds of the University of Florida Medical Center. An update on his arrival, medical exam and planned treatment will be added tomorrow.

April 2, 2007

Tomorrow Bladimir and his mother leave for Medallin, Colombia where they will meet up with Tom Colandrea. This afternoon the children at the Help and Hope Center gave a going away party for him. This was sure to be an emotional time for all. The children and staff love Bladimir and though they are overjoyed at his good fortune to get the medical treatment he has been needing for years they will miss him greatly.

Pray for the success of this last leg of the trip. Andean Aid is incommunicado and not hear from this travel party again until Wayne Cramer meets them in Miami.

March 31, 2007

The visas and passports have been delivered from the embassy, the airline tickets have been purchased, and the multitude of documents have been completed and notarized Bladimir is on his way! Tom Colandrea flew to Medallin, Colombia today and will meet them on Tuesday. The months of anticipation are finally coming to completion.

Andean Aid President, Wayne Cramer, will be flying to Miami Wednesday to greet Bladimir and his mother Aydee and help get them settled into their strange surroundings. Stay tuned for photos and video of their arrival.

March 20, 2007

Bladimir and his mother, Aydee, received their visas yesterday to come to the United States for medical treatment. This a huge step that clears the way for their travel. Our goal is to have them in Miami April 4^th.

March 19, 2007

This morning a group is Caracas on a critical mission.  This is a mission one and a half years in the making for Andean Aid and fifteen years in the making for the boy at the center of the activity.

Bladimir Gomez Ramirez was born seventeen years ago in one of the poorest parts of Venezuela.  At two years old his mother gave him away to a visiting lady.  She was afraid the rash developing on his face could become something serious and she could not afford to care for him.  The rash did indeed become something serious called fibrous dysplasia, a condition where bones in the face become porous and enlarged.

You can imagine Bladimir’s life as a young boy carrying this burden.  He has endured several operations in Venezuela to treat the condition and nothing more can be done there.

In August of 2005 Andean Aid was asked if we could find some organization that could help him.  We are not a medical mission but our mission is to Empower the Afflicted to Flourish and often we must overcome barriers to a child’s success.  But this was huge.  How could we possibly help?  The answer came in the name of Tom Colandrea, an Andean Aid supporter who took Bladimir’s plight to heart.  Tom asked me if he could pursue possible avenues of help and I was glad to have him on board.

Several organizations were contacted.  Operation Smile was providing treatment right in Venezuela but they never responded to our requests.  Samaritans Purse responded but could not help.  In March 2006 Tom contacted the International Kids Fund in Miami, his hometown.  While I was visiting Venezuela in April the International Kids Fund requested detailed information about Bladimir’s condition, which I was able to collect and bring home.  Finally, in August we received word that the International Kids Fund had accepted Bladimir’s case.  We were on top of the world - especially Bladimir.

Another setback occurred on January 18^th.  Bladimir’s guardian decided that she could not possibly spend five or six months in Miami while he was treated.  It was decided to ask his natural mother, Aydee, who gave him up fifteen years earlier.  She said yes but this decision carried with it several problems.

Aydee is Colombian living in Venezuela without legal status which means she cannot possibly fly out of Caracas.  A decision was made to obtain the visas through the U.S. embassy in Caracas but the flight to Miami would be from Bogota.  To make this easier Bladimir obtained dual citizenship status and he and Aydee obtained Colombian passports.

Tom Colandrea finished the daunting task of completing all of the documents for the visas and a required interview is scheduled Monday, March 19^th.  This is a crucial event and the last step in being granted a visa.  I contacted a friend, from my days of working for an international Christian school in Caracas, who is putting this group up in his home Sunday evening and delivering them to the embassy well in time for the interview.

An attempt was made to obtain temporary legal status for Aydee so she could travel to Caracas without fear of being sent back to Colombia.  This was not possible in time for the interview.  So, the marching orders were to proceed to Caracas praying that God would continue to watch over Bladimir..

Bladimir’s mother is a very simple and poor woman.  Coming to Miami will be a huge culture shock for her.  We were concerned that she would get flustered during the interview in the embassy.  The Consul General has given special permission for my friend and co-worker Gaby Andrade to be present during the interview.  This is a tremendous blessing.

Our prayer is that all of the documentation is in order and that Bladimir and his mother leave the embassy with visas in hand.  They will be in Miami shortly thereafter.

Andean Aid has guaranteed the U.S. government that it would cover all transportation, visa and passport costs for Bladimir and his mother.  This was done by faith that our other ministries such as the Help and Hope Center would not suffer.  If you would like to join us in this noble mission go to our Get Involved page to see how you can donate or click the Donate button below to contribute by credit card through Just Give.

Winston Churchill once said:

Never give in.  Never give in.  Never, never, never, never - - in nothing, great or small, large or petty - - never give in, except to convictions of honor and good sense.  And we might add, as Christians, to convictions laid upon your heart by the Holy Spirit.