Foundations
Asociacion Pro Niños Quemados de Nicaragua (APROQUEN)
Asociacion Pro Niños Quemados de Nicaragua (APROQUEN) is a non-profit organization founded in 1991 by Vivian Pellas after she was involved in a near fatal plane crash. Pellas and her husband were two of only 10 survivors. She herself suffered severe burn injuries in the crash and has since undergone 27 operations. The organization's mission has been to provide free, complete and specialized medical treatment to children from the poorest sectors of Nicaraguan and Central American society, using the most up to date methods and treatments.
In the 14 years since its inauguration, APROQUEN has provided over 173,000 free treatments to children, constructing the first children's burns unit in Nicaragua in 1993 at the Fernando Vélez Páiz state Hospital. Then, in 2004, Pellas achieved her initial dream by opening the new Children's Burns Unit in the Vivian Pellas Metropolitan Hospital of Nicaragua, itself administered by APROQUEN. This is the only known unit of its kind in Central America, incorporating a special center of rehabilitation.
With a monthly running cost of $78,000, the unit relies on donations to continue its work, which "by providing proper care and treatment is able to prevent 80 percent of the surgery that can be necessary over a number of years as the skin contracts and tightens," said Pellas.
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2007 Annual Report
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