Goodwill Ambassadors: Maria Jose Chinchilla Medrano

By Janet Foerster, CHESS Program Director - Click here to download PDF version.

In the summer of 2007, Maria Jose Chinchilla Medrano, was introduced to the CHESS project through Manuel Marenco, the CHESS Community Facilitator, during his work at Osneida School in Villa El Carmen. Maria Jose needed medical attention for her physical condition. Her mother reached out to Manuel and the CHESS project to see if we could help get her daughter a medical examination and evaluation. With the help of the Tiscapa Rotary Club to support a doctor’s evaluation it was determined that corrective shoes could be of help to her. The shoes were purchased by the Rotary Club and worn for several months by Maria Jose.

In partnership with innerCHANGE CHESS Nicaragua, Robert Morris University School of Nursing from Pittsburgh made a medical mission trip to Nicaragua in November of 2007 and met Maria Jose at her school to evaluate her condition as well. Dr. Carl Ross and the nursing students provided funding for further medical support for the next months until her diagnosis could be determined by the hospital in Managua. Maria Jose has been tentatively diagnosed by the Children’s Hospital in Managua with rickets and treated with medications to build up her bone structure.

In February 2009, Maria Jose will be evaluated at the Children’s Hospital to explore the possibility of genetic disorders that may change the course of her treatment.