Give A Heart for Ila and Others In East Timor!

Medical Aid for East Timor

GIVE A HEART FOR ILA AND OTHERS IN EAST TIMOR!

We are writing to you today to ask for your help in contacting your U.S. Senators and Representative about the visit of the US Navy Hospital ship USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) which is expected in East Timor for a short two week visit beginning August 6. 

Dr. Dan Murphy of the Bairo Pite Clinic and numerous Timorese heart patients are seeking your help in convincing the US Navy Sealift Command to provide the use of one surgical bay on the USNS Mercy Hospital Ship in order for a team of Australian heart surgeons to help untold numbers of East Timorese with heart problems. At present East Timorese with heart problems needing surgery have little hope of survival unless they are one of the chosen few sent to Australia for heart surgery. Sending East Timorese to Australia is difficult, expensive and involves complicated visa and immigration paperwork - all of which takes precious time, resources and money from being used in other critical areas of healthcare at the clinic and East Timor. As of next year the national hospital in East Timor will have a heart surgery bay, but in the interim the US Navy has the facilities, resources and opportunity to help these patients and we hope you can spend some time to make this happen.

An 8 year old little girl by the name of Ila with severe mitral valve disease needs your help to give her the chance to live a full vibrant life, full of energy, like other children have. At this point little Ila has no chance of growing up to early adulthood, but, with a few minutes of your time she may live a full life. Please do not allow this opportunity to pass without contacting your elected officials in Washington and encouraging them to contact the US Navy Sealift Command to make this happen for Ila and many others with heart disease.

Please call or send e-mail to your elected officials encouraging them to contact the US Navy's Sealift Commander Rear Admiral Mark H Buzby immediately and express support for offering a surgical bay aboard the USNS Mercy hospital ship, for use by the Australian surgical team in Dili, East Timor.

Call your Senators and congressional Representatives via the Congressional switchboard at 202-224-3121 (ask for the office of your Representative and Senators), or check www.congress.org for other contact information.  

This small effort requires only a little time only your valuable voice of support for the future of numerous East Timorese medical patients. We hope that you will see this small effort through to its successful completion.

Dr Mike Iltis/ communications

Elliot Stokes/facilitator
elliotisaacstokes@yahoo.com
Medical Aid for East Timor

Keep us up to date on the response you get.

If you have time please also contact:

Dean Tano, Humanitarian and Civic Affairs,
Commander, Pacific Fleet, (NO1H),
250 Makalapa Dr, Pearl Harbor, HI. 96860. 
808-471-2463, fax 808-474-7806,
Dean.Tano@navy.mil

Other contacts:

Rear Admiral MH Buzby, c/o Public Affairs, 
914 Charles Morris Court, Navy Yard, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20398-5540 or
phone 1-888-SEALIFT (888-732-5438).

Give a heart for Ila and others in East Timor


PHOTO: USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) anchored in Dili harbor in 2008. U.S. Navy photo By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Joseph Seavey.