"Nelvy" A young, sick campesino daughter in the arms of her protective father, living in rural Cochabamba, Bolivia
BACKSTORY
I came across this child while on assignment in Bolivia for Food for The Hungry. She lived a humble life as the daughter of hard working campesinos in one of the campo's very poor farming communities that dot the Bolivian landscape. During a casual visit, while standing in the doorway speaking with her mother and father, I noticed in the far corner of the room behind them, the shape of a small child laying down behind a set of makeshift curtains.
I was told her name was "Nelvy" and with that they summoned a quiet, little waif of a girl, who came and stood quietly in front of me, silent with eyes like pieces of coal, her fathers arms wrapped protectively around her tiny shoulders. When I asked about her I didn't expect to be told that she didn't have long to live, maybe a year, maybe less...due to a hole in her heart. I was speechless and blurted out "why are you talking about her like this in front of her" softly they said that "she knows." I learned that while there was a doctor willing to perform the surgery they had no money for the nearly $4500 needed for post operative care which for a humble farmer, might as well have been a million dollars. In a breath I had a wave of emotion flood over me, thinking...there was no way on earth I was going to let this little girl die for lack of money. So I changed the photograph from a casual editorial image - to a poignant, face to face photograph that would help to save a young girls life.
After a long flight back to to the States, I stumbled into one of the barns at a nearby Arabian Horse show. They were closing the barns and taking the horses out to trailers, when out of the darkness destiny came knocking, in a woman named "Carol" a horsewoman from Daydream Arabians, who took particular interest in my latest assignment to Bolivia, telling me that she'd been wanting to help in some way but didn't know how. Well, at the beginning of a very long story, I bluntly told Carol that I needed $5,000 to help save a little girls life or simply - she would die. Carol just stared at me. And with that I left the horse barn that night, where I found Carol, and thought little more about our meeting until a week later when a check arrived in the mail for $5,000, with Nelvy's name on it, for her open heart surgery. I'm surprised that this morning in London, years later since that fateful morning in Bolivia, tears still find me with the memory of what Carol's generosity meant. Nelvy would live, and her mother and father, so brave to let their daughter go through major surgery, would enjoy many years with their daughter they believed would be lost. It still resonates with me, personally knowing the names of children who came after Nelvy, from East Africa to The Philippines, Carol helped with those children too, who were vulnerable and simply needed an advocate to stand up for them.
With the help of so many people, including Food for the Hungry's staff in Bolivia, Nelvy had a successful operation and has been running around rural Bolivia for quite a few years, enjoying a full life with her family, and I believe she has children of her own now. She must've had a sense of peace, knowing that she has a strong heart now, to help her live out her dreams and maybe a bit of wonderment, of how strangers found her in the rural wilds of Bolivia that fateful day. Nelvy's story is a truly special story, one that has provided the motivation behind other heart operations around the globe thru the creation of the HEART fund with Food for The Hungry, whereby children in rural communities of the developing world, who are critically ill, may find help. A few poignant images, a woman in a barn, a bit of money and a beating heart in all of us made the difference. When asked to help we simply stepped up and said "yes" when we could easily have said no. We shared a vision for something good for a change and along the way we managed to play a small part in helping to give a little girl, to give Nelvy - back her life.
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