A parade of puffy white clouds drifted past the airplane window, so close that Manuel was sure he could reach out and snatch one. The 6-year-old boy stared outside, wide-eyed with wonder.

“Can you open the window?” he pleaded with Andrea, the interpreter who was accompanying him. “I want to touch the clouds.”

Andrea explained his request could not be granted. He waited several minutes, then ventured another question.

“Are we going to another planet?” he asked.

“No,” the woman replied, a bit amused. “But we are going to another country.”

Life can be very exciting when you are 6 and going on your first plane ride. For young Manuel Maturano, November has been a month of numerous firsts as he traveled far from his rural village in the Andean highlands of Bolivia.

His destination: San Antonio, Texas. The purpose: a desperately needed heart surgery that will give him quality of life so he can experience many more firsts as he grows up.

Manuel’s arrival in the United States also marks a milestone for our Children’s Heart Project. He is the first child the Samaritan’s Purse program has sponsored from Bolivia, and only the second child from South America.

“We are excited to be expanding the Children’s Heart Project to help Bolivian children,” said Cindy Bonsall, director of the program. “These children have no access to congenital heart repair. Many live in extremely high altitudes, which makes living with a heart defect a very serious challenge.”

Manuel is one of more than 600 boys and girls sponsored by the Children’s Heart Project over the past 12 years. The delicate cardiac procedures needed to save their lives cannot be performed in their home countries, so Samaritan’s Purse provides the airfare and partners with North American hospitals who donate their services.

Rural areas of Bolivia, especially in the mountains, offer little or no medical care. The small town where Manuel lives with his mother and grandparents is a long 13-hour bus ride from La Paz, the Bolivian capital. Although he had signs of heart problems since infancy, his condition was not diagnosed until this past September when our staff and a pediatric cardiologist conducted a health screening.

Further examination revealed Manuel had a hole in his heart. If this defect was not corrected within a year, the boy would become inoperable.

One by one the details came together. Arrangements were made for Manuel to receive his surgery at Christus Santa Rosa Children’s Hospital in San Antonio. A Christian host family was found to provide a caring home for the boy, his mom Rocio, and Andrea, the interpreter, during their time in America.

And then a snag occurred that threatened to unravel everything.

Because he was a minor, Manuel needed special permission to leave the country. When that permission was not granted, Rocio tearfully telephoned our Children’s Heart Project staff who joined her in prayer.

Before the end of the day, Rocio called back. Their prayers had been answered! Manuel was free to come to the United States for surgery.

The family arrived in Texas last week. On Nov. 17, a staff member reported that the surgery was successful and the hole in Manuel’s heart had been repaired.

“(Rocio) said she just has a peace about the whole thing and she knows God is taking care of Manuel,” he said.

Please pray that Manuel and Rocio will continue to experience God’s love in an unforgettable way during these next two months as he recovers from the operation.

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Samaritan's Purse , Bolivia , Children's Heart Project , New Horizons