NEWPORT BEACH : A Medical Mission of Mercy

Natividad Villanueva, speaking through a translator, told coordinators arranging her son’s operation that it was like a dream come true that the tumor blocking little Donald’s vision will soon be removed.

The boy and his mother, who were flown here from the Philippines, will be officially welcomed to Orange County today with an evening of music and prayer at the Airporter Inn Hotel in Irvine. The program, arranged by those who sponsored his trip, is intended to help Donald feel at home and to wish the family well with the surgery.

Donald, 3, has a tumor growing near the bridge of his nose that is impairing his vision almost to the point of blindness. In addition, the tumor has the potential to continue growing and completely rob him of his sight. Through a number of nonprofit groups, a trip to the United States was arranged so that the boy could be operated on by plastic surgeon Bruce Dubin at Hoag Hospital.

“Imagine this child seeing again. That’s tremendous,” said Nancy Fontaine, director of Pointes of Light, one of the groups that helped arrange the trip.

Father Michael Semana, who heads the World of Hope Foundation which does social work in the Philippines, learned about the Villanueva boy about eight months ago during a visit to set up a community center near Donald’s village.

When he first saw Donald, he reportedly promised the boy that he would bring him to America for medical help.

“He could get the care in Manila, but it takes longer. This disease is progressing. (The tumor) is even bigger now than it was a few months ago,” said Toti Fuentes, a board member at World of Hope.

Still, bringing the child and his mother to Orange County took time. First the World of Hope group needed to find a doctor and others who would help support the trip. Then they needed to obtain temporary visas to bring the twosome here.

The World of Hope group was put in touch with Pointes of Light, and together they worked to secure the trip. The two nonprofit groups also solicited help from Rep. Christopher Cox (R-Newport Beach) in obtaining the visas.

The hospital, doctor and staff have donated the time and expertise to make the surgery possible, although the date for the operation has yet to be set.

Fuentes said the family has rarely traveled from their tiny village, which he described as a “barrio” in Laoag, about a 10-hour drive from Manila. Just bringing the mother and child to the capital for visa papers was a difficult and time-consuming task.

Natividad Villanueva, who sells vegetables, and her husband, Regino, a bus driver, live with their five children in a one-room palm-leaf shack, and the thought of coming to America for medical care was more than a promising dream. It also was an unbelievable, twisting ride through the bureaucracies and cultures of the two countries.

“It was tough,” said Fuentes.

Donald is the 11th child the Pointes of Light group has aided and the first child the Santa Clarita-based World of Hope group has helped in this fashion, although members said they hope to do more work like this.