Letter from the founder

A reason for living There are many reasons that may justify our passing through life, many and varied reasons to live, but bringing back smiles, along with the sincere and endearing gratitude of so many hundreds of patients and their families, the enthusiasm and generosity of my colleagues and collaborators, would be enough to make this project-, which I have been carrying out for the last almost thirty years- in places such as Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica, the centrepiece of my existence. Here we will provide account of this work, explaining the type of surgical interventions, the training initiatives, the number of people attended and the expeditions we have carried out. We will reproduce testimonials of patients and doctors, but the first of them, the first testimony, must be that of my gratitude for having had the opportunity to live this experience. Like so many other things this work was born, almost by coincidence, during a trip to Nicaragua in 1989. Observing the medical and health reality of this beloved brotherly country, I was aware, at that time, of how much effort had to be done to help those people. Such a contrast with that reality stirred up my conscience and my will in a way that, since then, all my free time and my means, of one or another kind, will have in the Brigades (Medical-Surgical), my north and my guide. Thereupon my true calling, perseverance, the team spirit of many colleagues and friends, the generosity of very diverse patrons, have enabled this project to have a life of its own.

Such a contrast with that reality stirred up my conscience and my will in a way that, since then, all my free time and my means, of one or another kind, will have in the Brigades (Medical-Surgical), my north and my guide

Since my first visit, my mind and my heart turned Latin America into a prior objective in both, attention and dedication. The same feeling was shared among those urologist colleagues who decided to follow me, in such devotedly unselfishly way as mine, in the attainment of such a noble commitment. Hundreds of surgical interventions have been carried out, all focusing on problems difficult deal with and which, for sure, were beyond their own possibilities. We have received recognition and affection, both from the direct beneficiaries of our work, as well as from their relatives, fellow citizens, and even from the authorities. The medical surgical was becoming a germ of solidarity, of coexistence, of exchange of affection and harmony between people and nations, to the extent of having transformed our lives and provided us all with a new and different reason for living. Thank you.

Miguel Litton, Urologist