Valente and Isabel Salsinha with Pakenham Rotary Club president Barry Morris (left), and By Sarah Schwager
AN EAST Timorese boy has received life saving heart surgery with the help of the Pakenham Rotary Club.
Rotary International brought the 13yearold and his grandmother out from East Timor six weeks ago, after he was discovered by top Melbourne heart surgeon Andrew Cochrane.
Pakenham Rotarian George Blenkhorn said Valente Salsinha and his grandmother Isabel were flown to Melbourne in midJanuary and the surgery was performed soon afterwards at the Royal Children’s Hospital.
After leaving hospital, Valente has been hosted by the East Timorese Community in Springvale South.
“Valente didn’t walk until he was seven,” Mr Blenkhorn said. “When he got off the plane he was walking so slowly. Now he’s running.”
He said at first Valente could barely walk, smile or eat but would now be flown back to East Timor in the next couple of weeks healthier, happier and fuller.
The operation was funded by a Rotary International program, called Rotary Oceania Medical Aid for Children ROMAC, which brings children from developing countries to Australia and New Zealand for dignityrestoring and lifesaving surgery.
Mr Cochrane, who was on a voluntary surgical trip funded by Aus Aid in Timor last July, referred Valente to ROMAC.
Pakenham Rotary Club undertook the responsibility of managing Valente while he was in Melbourne.
Mr Blenkhorn said Rotarians had visited Valente twice a day, and organised a Tetun interpreter so they could communicate with him and Isabel.
“They hadn’t been out of the country or on a plane. Valente didn’t have many clothes with him,” Mr Blenkhorn said.
“My wife (Sue) and myself took them to Target to get some new clothes. The grandmother stood in the middle of the store just looking around.
“It’s a different world that they’re coming from. They couldn’t work a microwave or a stove.
“Our kids can operate technology by the age of five.”
On 26 February Valente and Isobel attended a fund raising dinner, held in Melbourne by the Vietnamese community, where $27,000 was raised for ROMAC.
