Rosalie said that she has been experiencing medical problems with her heart from since she was 10 years old. At age 16, her mitral valve thickened and she started to develop severe chest pains and increasing shortness of breath even with minimal exertion. Rosalie had open-heart surgery in 1999 at the Arizona Heart Institute. That surgery was to correct a leaking mitral valve that had been damaged due to rheumatic fever she experienced as a child. According to Rosalie, she will need BZ$250,000 to get open-heart surgery in the United States, or BZ$80,000 to get it performed in Guatemala. Rosalie feels confident that she will be able to get the required money, but hopes it will be as soon as possible. She will need to go abroad in two weeks time for the surgery. Rosalie said that she is also experiencing difficulty getting a United States Visa. When she went to the United States Embassy on Monday, August 15, she was asked to present documents that show she is working, and documents that show proof that she was in the United States in 1999 for the first surgery. According to Rosalie, she was able to show the documents concerning her surgery, but she was unable to show the officials at the United States Embassy that she is employed, since she is a housewife. She had stopped working ever since she had returned to Belize after she had the first surgery. Rosalie told us that she suffered two heart attacks on Thursday, August 11, and on Friday, August 12; she suffers from frequent pains in her chest, shortness of breath, gets easily tired, and her hands and feet get cold. Her body has also become swollen. Rosalie is on medication that she has obtained from the Belize Medical Associates, but she said that even though she is taking the pills, she still suffers pain. If Rosalie does not receive early medical care abroad, her valve can burst. If that occurs, she could collapse and die. Rosalie is a resident of Mango Creek, Stann Creek District. She has two sons, Garffield Parham, Jr., 4, and Geon Gordon, 2. Her husband is Garffield Parham, Sr. Anyone who wishes to assist Rosalie can contact her at numbers 621-6217 or 503-2325. Her sister, Ellen Parham, can also be contacted at numbers 223-4053 or 223-1501. Contributions can also be made to Atlantic Bank account #210450974.
AMANDALA, a biweekly newspaper published on Tuesdays and Fridays, was founded as an organ of the United Black Association for Development (UBAD), which emerged on August 13, 1969. Even after UBAD was divided and later dissolved in 1974, AMANDALA remained.
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