The U.S. Embassy in Jakarta has awarded Tison and Hendra a visa to come to the U.S. This is really good news for all of us–many people have worked on making this possible. This is a major step forward. Tison and Hendra, his escort, will be in Alaska sometime in the second week of December. This will be a wonderful year for Tison–he will be given all the medical treatment needed to repair his burn injuries. Tison will be going to...

I wanted to update all of you on the progress in the effort to get Tison to Alaska for the medical help being offered to him. Tison is burned over 40% of his body and has suffered a lot following the kerosene spill accident. He is so brave and has been living with his disabilities. The amazing Liz Wood, surgical nurse and unstoppable advocate, has been the coordinator of the medical effort to treat his injures. She has been successful in...

Yes–it seems like getting Tison to the U.S. is just a small step at a time. Tison’s parents were able to find a Notary who would sign the “power of attorney”. The problem that was confronted was to find a Notary who could sign an English document (POA). The Indonesian Notary would not notarize a document that they did not understand. We had the original document translated into Indonesian and we had a translator on site...

I have sad this many times–it is hard work helping people. The efforts to get Tison to the U.S. are moving forward. We did run into a “bump in the road”. We need to have the “power of attorney” documents signed and notarized by an Indonesian Notary. We had the POA translated into Indonesian and also in English. Tison and his family went to Ternate to have the documents signed They could not find a Notary who could...

Imagine the shock Tison, the nine year old Indonesian burn survivor, will have when he steps off the warm Alaska Airlines flight onto the frozen walkway into the terminal. Fairbanks Alaska is a very cold place in the winter. I have been told the he is excited about coming to Alaska. I know he is excited but he will experience a cold that he cannot even imagine.There will be the normal culture issues to overcome. He is a really great little boy....

The next step for Tison, the nine year old burn victim, is to get all his letters of support to the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. We have organized and sent all the these letters from Alaska. We sent the package by Fedex to Indonesia. This Fedex package full of the letters he needs went from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Memphis to Anchorage in four days. It winged it way to China and was in and out of the distribution center in an hour and a half...

Tison recently met his parents in the city of Ternate. They had not seen each other for around a year. This was not just a get together, this was a time to set a direction for Tison’s future. Tison has been at the clinic on the island of Halmahera for the past year. He is burned over 40% of his body. He has missed his parents but his village in about 200 miles from our medical base. They left him at our clinic where he receives daily...

Elizabeth (Liz) Wood is a surgical nurse who has a huge heart. She organized a monumental effort to save the life a a child, Billy Ponto, who was very ill and faced certain death. Liz arranged for the doctors, hospital, housing and even raised the money to cover all the expenses. Liz is someone who sees a need and then just finds a way to gather resources and partnerships to meet the need.It was an honor to recognize Liz, for her heart and...

In many remote regions of the world the poor use kerosene lamps to light their homes at night. A common simple wick in a can of fuel is used in millions of homes. It is very dangerous because it can easily spill and start a fire or in the process of filling the lamp it can explode. It is a serious hazard and we have seen numerous injuries due to kerosene lamp accidents. There is always a lot of pain and suffering with each burn.IFC has arranged...

I got a note from Peter Scarborough asking for prayer for Tison. Tison has burns over about 40% of his body. His right leg has had an open wound on it that has a very bad infection. He has been so brave and has endured the daily changing of dressing. The hospital staff have done a wonderful job on all his wounds. He needs our prayers and support at this time.Tison will meet with his parents tomorrow. He has not seen them for nearly a year. They...