Nobody's Children - An International Children's Relief Organization

Jon and Elaine as featured in the Manchester Union Leader story about Nobody's Children November 2011

Richard K. Root Plastic Surgery Library

Nobody's Children recognizes the important role plastic surgery can play in improving the lives of children suffering from burns, congential problems, and trauma. A logical extension of our mission has been the establishment of a Plastic Surgery Library at the University Hospital in Caracas, Venezuela. This library is named in memory of Dr. Richard K. Root, who was a major influence in our lives.

With the generous assistance of Dr. Mary McGrath from UCSF, this library is stocked with the key textbooks to allow training of a new generation of surgeons to help the less fortunate children of Venezuela.

WHAT IS NOBODY'S CHILDREN?

Nobody's Children provides medical and humanitarian resources for needy children throughout the world, with active programs in Romania and Bosnia, and now in Botswana.

Our organization was founded 20 years ago, in 1991, by Edward and Elaine Yourtee after experiences in Romania while adopting their son Jonathan. Moved by the plight of orphans in Romania, they organized their friends to make a limited contribution to improve the conditions they had seen. They also sought to leverage their efforts by working directly with Romanian doctors to improve their abilities to care for children. When a key volunteer from Romania moved to work in Bosnia, opportunities arose to help children from all factions who were left homeless by war.

Nobody’s Children is an IRS approved 501(c)(3)(a) tax-exempt organization that relies primarily on small private donations, local fundraising events, and support from churches and community organizations. Because of exposure through national media and international visitors to Bosnia, about 30% of our support comes from sources outside New England. About 85% of funds raised go directly to program services (See our profile in Guidestar, a web-based national database of non-profit organizations, by searching for Nobodys Children - without an apostrophe.)

Programs and Staffing

Elaine Yourtee is the sole US-based staff of Nobody’s Children; she works from her home in Windham, NH, without compensation.
Our program in Bosnia is managed by an international volunteer, with local personnel operating the dental program.
Dental care is provided in the Nobody's Children Arlinghaus dental center in Mostar, Bosnia .
Our program in Romania employs local personnel for child care and education, and is overseen by a Romanian volunteer.
Nobody's Children owns and operates Casa Katarina, a group home for abused and homeless children and mothers in Craiova, Romania.
Our doctor-to-doctor program in conjunction with the University of Pennsylvania AIDS program in Botswana, brings AIDS physicians from Botswana to the United States for training and education.
For each of the last two years we have brought a needy child to the US for plastic surgery to restore disfiguring facial defects. In each case we also brought a doctor as translator and for medical education.

Romanian Music for Children

Jon Yourtee at orphanage in Ecuador

Program Updates

Since our visit to Romania in the spring of 2010, we have had several developments.

First, believing in the power of music to harness attention and improve development, we have instituted introductory music and rhythm programs. In the Montessori School in Bucharest, Daniel Enasescu has brought keyboard and musical instruments to begin a program for those challenged children. And this Spring, Jon Yourtee delivered a shipment of rhythm instruments to an orphange in Quito, Ecuador, to help encourage the musical expression of those young orphans.

That visit to Ecuador brought to our attention several orphans with extraordinary surgical needs to correct congenital airway or esophageal problems. Elaine is currently in exploratory talks with a dedicated group of Boston doctors to explore a possible medical evacuation of those children.

Finally, the city government of Mostar, Bosnia is now in a position to take over the funding and operation of the Carl and Rita Arlinghaus Dental Clinic built there almost 10 years ago. This clinic has been providing free dental care to the chronically displaced population of Mostar. We are negotiating for a final turnover of that project to the government later this year.

Freidy Perez

Freidy lives in a remote coastal village of Venezuela, and has been disfigured since birth by facial neurofibromatosis. He was brought to our attention by a missionary who advocated for him. Nobody's Children arranged the details of his care, housing, and transportation, all of the international paperwork, and sponsored his care in the United States.

In November 2009, plastic surgeons Dr. George Chatson of North Andover and Dr. Gary Rogers of Children's Hospital Boston performed major reconstructive surgery at the Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, MA. Freidy had a successful outcome, recovered uneventfully, and he and his mother returned to Venezuela just before Thanksgiving.

Click to see November 22 videos of interviews by Channel 9 and Channel 5 at CNN and WCVB, and the news article in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune.

Above: Freidy before surgery

Freidy 16 days after surgery

Dr. Rodrigo Diaz, a Venezuelan plastic surgeon, has been invaluable in navigating the Venezuelan bureaucracy and arranging all the local details to make this medical project take place. He accompanied Freidy and his mother to the US, acting as interpreter and medical liaison. During his stay in Windham, Dr. Diaz also had the opportunity to advance his medical education through observerships at Mass General Hospital, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Children's Hospital, and Shriners Hospital in Boston.

Ion Tomsa

During the first 5 months of 2008, we hosted Ioan Tomasa, a young man who came to the USA for dramatic plastic reconstructive facial surgery. Healing the Children of Connecticut arranged for his surgery by Dr. George Chatson at the Holy Family Hospital in Methuen, Mass. Nobody's Children provided his visa, housing, logistics, and emotional support in our family environment. We also provided for Dr. Cristina Patru to accompany him from Romania for medical translation and liaison during the acute phase. In May, Ioan returned to his village in Romania to start a normal life. Click to see news coverage of Ioan's story, Elaine's work, and an interview with slide show published March 23rd in the Lawrence Eagle Tribune. Click here to see December 2008 followup article about Ioan Tomsa's follow-up visit to the US and his surprise news.

Romanian International Adoption Ban

Since 2006, true to its roots in Romanian orphanages, Nobody's Children has worked intensively to improve the plight of Romanian orphans ever since the Romanian government banned all international adoptions from Romania. There is no present anticipation of reopening these adoptions. We remain actively involved in the plight of the unheard orphans and needy childrn of Romania.

Updated 03/24/2012