Bosnian Mothers Receive a Priceless Mother's Day Gift in Albany, New York

Samaritan's Purse
Thursday, 10 May 2001

Local Community Teams Up with Franklin Graham's Relief Organization to Give Life-Saving Treatment to Two Bosnian Children

Grace Fellowship Church will host a going away party for the Bosnian children and their mothers at the church's new location in Colonnade Plaza located off of Route 2 in Latham, N.Y. on Friday, May 11 at 6:30 p.m. Media are welcome.

For two Bosnian women, this Mother's Day will be one they'll never forget as they look forward to returning to Bosnia with their healthy children.

Over the past few weeks, 16-month-old Inel Delalic and 17-month-old Aida Ganic, received life-saving heart surgery at Albany Medical Center. They were brought from Bosnia to Albany courtesy of Samaritan's Purse, the international Christian relief organization led by Franklin Graham, son of Rev. Billy Graham, and are scheduled to leave Albany for their homeland next week.

Samaritan's Purse handled travel logistics for the children, their mothers, and a translator, paid all travel expenses, and arranged for a local family, and Grace Fellowship Church, to host the children during their four-week recovery period in the Albany area. Both children had congenital heart defects that if left untreated would have been life threatening.

Inel and Aida were the first children Samaritan's Purse brought to Albany, and the community welcomed them with open arms. In addition to the care provided by the hospital and local church, Rotary Gift of Life gave $10,000 per child toward the cost of the surgeries, the Ronald McDonald House provided housing for the mother's during the children's hospital stay, local restaurants gave the families free meals, and one of the local malls donated all the coins from their fountain to help pay for the going away party Grace Fellowship Church is hosting for the Bosnians.

Since the program started in 1997 in response to a critical need in Bosnia, Samaritan's Purse Children's Heart Project has brought more than 100 children to the United States for life-saving heart treatment. In addition to medical care, Samaritan's Purse provides state-of-the-art diagnostic equipment and training for doctors overseas. The machines enable doctors in those countries to better diagnose defects, identify candidates for surgery, and ensure that the children are matched with the proper specialists in the U.S.

For more information, or to contact Samaritan's Purse, see their website at: www.samaritanspurse.org