In El Salvador hundreds of children with congenital heart defects are born each year. Without treatment, most of these children would die within the first years of life. Professor Christian Schlensak is performing lifesaving treatments for these children at the University of Santa Ana. However, the hospital currently lacks accommodation for the children´s parents, so they can be close to their loved ones during the treatment. Professor Schlensak brought the project to the attention of Mauritia Mack of Europa-Park and the jewelry maker Leonardo. Together with the Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation a new accommodation and sanitary facilities were created, which provides space for up to 15 parents at a time. The proceeds from the 'Mauritia Mack by Leonardo' jewelry collection have been used to support social projects since 2010.
El Salvador is a small, little-noticed country in Central America, which has become known for its civil wars and violence in the past. The birth rate is many times (14 times) higher than in Germany. This means that despite a relatively small population of around seven million inhabitants, several hundred children with congenital heart defects are born in El Salvador every year. Without treatment, the majority of these children die within the first year of life. Prof. Dr. Christian Schlensak from Germany is a recognized expert in the field of surgical treatment of congenital heart defects. Under his leadership, several surgical trips have already been carried out with a surgical team to treat congenital heart defects in El Salvador. Based on this aid project, Professor Schlensak is very attached to the University of Santa Ana and brought the project to Mauritia Mack and DRYING LITTLE TEARS.
In order to promote the clinic in the long term, Professor Schlensak was asked to help build a mother house at the University of Santa Ana. Because of the geographical conditions and the non-existent public transport system, the parents of the sick children are dependent on staying with their children in the hospital. However, there is currently no accommodation for the parents at the clinic - even though it is so important for the children to have their parents with them during the difficult time of treatment. Currently, the parents have to remain either in the corridors or mostly in the hospital rooms at their children's beds for the duration of the treatment. This is neither an acceptable situation for the children nor for the parents, because the lack of or difficult care disrupts the healing process. For the first time, the new mother house offers the possibility of accommodating up to 15 parents in their own dormitory. The new mother house also includes the necessary sanitary facilities. The proceeds from the charity jewelery collection "Mauritia Mack by Leonardo", with which Mauritia Mack, Leonardo and the Regine Sixt Children's Aid Foundation have been supporting social projects since 2010, made a decisive contribution to this project.
