'A little miracle'

Girl’s life-changing surgery shows bond between archdioceses in Cuba and Indy

Six-year-old Litzy Maria Luna Mendoza of Cuba gives a special hug to Dr. Martin Kaefer, a physician at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis and member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis, who performed a life-changing surgery for the girl on Feb. 20. (Photo by Charles Schisla) Click for a larger version.

By John Shaughnessy

As Pope Benedict XVI prepares to visit Cuba on March 26-28, he would likely be inspired by the story of a 6-year-old Cuban girl who has been called “a little miracle.”

With her infectious smile, big blue eyes and strong spirit, Litzy Maria Luna Mendoza has given a special human connection to the ever-growing relationship between the Archdiocese of Indianapolis and the Archdiocese of Camaguey in Cuba.

And thanks to the collaboration of people from both archdioceses, Litzy has benefited from an operation at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis that has corrected a physical condition which threatened her life.

It’s a story of faith, compassion and cooperation, according to Dr. Chuck Dietzen, an Indianapolis physician who had a key role in arranging Litzy’s surgery.

“Mother Teresa always understood that the only way you have true conversion is if you set a good example,” says Dietzen, who worked with her in Calcutta in 1996. “If people pray for hope, health and healing, it’s going to come in the form of another human being. That’s what has happened here. The question is sometimes asked, ‘I’ve been praying to God, but where is he?’ I believe God hears. The real question is, ‘Do we hear him, calling on us to deliver?’ ”

The story of Litzy is the tale of how two groups of people from different countries and backgrounds—yet still united by their shared faith—delivered an outcome of hope for a little girl.

Building the bridge

The beginning of Litzy’s story actually takes place before she was born, back in 1998 when Pope John Paul II visited Cuba.

Following that visit, Catholic Relief Services developed the Global Solidarity Partnership, an effort to use the structure of the Church to link dioceses in the United States with dioceses in developing countries. As part of the partnership, the archdioceses of Indianapolis and Camaguey were matched.

“Ours is one of the few partnerships of a diocese in the United States with any of the dioceses in Cuba,” says Charles J. Schisla, a member of the Indianapolis contingent of the Global Solidarity Partnership.

“We’ve sent down shipments of medical supplies. On a regular basis, we also try to take a group of five people down there—some who are leaders in key areas of service and ministry in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis—and connect them with similar people and areas in the archdiocese there.”

Another important focus has been to lay the groundwork to spread the Catholic faith to new generations of Cubans. The practice of religion had been forbidden for a long period of time in Cuba, but that restriction is in the past, Schisla notes.

“Historically, Camaguey is a very religious area, a very Catholic area,” he says. “The faith that’s there has been with the older people. There’s a great deal of emphasis on the Church working with children in need.”

For the past 13 years, volunteers within the Archdiocese of Camaguey have conducted religious, value-based programs for children.

Those efforts eventually led to the awareness of Litzy, a child that her parish priest in Cuba, Father Jose Bastain, refers to as “a little miracle.”

‘We’ve never done anything like this’

Through most of her young life, Litzy has struggled with a urinary tract condition that has increasingly threatened the functioning of her kidneys. And so, in August of 2011, a request from the Cuban Catholics to help Litzy was made—a request that flowed from those years of establishing trust and faith between the two groups.

“We’ve never done anything like this before, and we’re not set up to do it,” says Schisla, a member of St. Andrew the Apostle Parish in Indianapolis. “But they believed the need was there and that we could help. It’s just that simple. We’ve been working since August to make it happen.”

The first outreach was made to Dietzen, who was part of one of the groups from the Archdiocese of Indianapolis that had visited Cuba.

Dietzen is the president and founder of Timmy Global Health, a non-profit organization that provides medical assistance and health care to low-income communities in developing countries. The organization is named for Dietzen’s older brother, who died as an infant.

Through his contacts, Dietzen found an Indianapolis specialist—Dr. Martin Kaefer at Riley Hospital for Children—who agreed to perform the surgery for Litzy.

Litzy and her mother, Arletty Mendoza Monaga, arrived in Indianapolis on Feb. 11, 2012. The three-hour surgery was performed nine days later.

“Dr. Kaefer came out and gave us the ‘thumbs up’ sign,” Schisla recalls. “There were a lot of smiles, and we had a large group hug.”

It was the outcome that Litzy’s mom has always believed would happen one day.

“Ever since Litzy was born, I knew that something miraculous would happen,” her mother says. “I had faith that things would work out. Even when it seemed impossible, a lot of faith kept me going. I’m really thankful to everyone for what they’ve done. It’s just been like having family here.”

During their time in Indiana, Litzy and her mother have been blessed with the support of Michele Wessler Medcalf, a member of the Indianapolis contingent of the Global Solidarity Partnership, who has helped provide clothes, meals and transportation for them.

“Many others have given of their time, their talents or financial resources,” says Medcalf, a member of St. Michael Parish in Greenfield. “It’s a rich blessing to see the medical healing and subsequent joy of this little girl and her mother.”

‘We see God in his people’

Kaefer has been pleased with Litzy’s recovery and improvement since the surgery.

“The archdiocese brought in a girl who would have had renal damage by the time she was 10, and she would have needed a kidney transplant. Now, she will have a good life,” says Kaefer, a member of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish in Indianapolis and head of Pediatric Volunteers International, an organization whose members travel to Guatemala two times a year to provide surgeries for children.

Litzy’s successful surgery “will make a profound statement back in Cuba,” says Dietzen, a member of St. Alphonsus Liguori Parish in Zionsville, Ind., in the Lafayette Diocese.

The goodwill has already spread.

Archbishop Juan Garcia Rodriguez of Camaguey sent a note of thanks to the Indianapolis contingent of the Global Solidarity Partnership.

“It is my intention to give thanks and praises to our God for the years of brotherhood between our dioceses,” Archbishop Rodriguez wrote. “A sign that confirms this blessing has been the necessary operation of little Litzy Maria. In the name of all the children of our archdiocese, we thank you for this new gesture of charity to them that marks the history of the growth of our fraternal relationship.”

A child gets the opportunity for a healthy, extended life. Two archdioceses from different countries take another step in a special partnership. All because of the faith that binds them.

“People of faith have been terrific, positive and generous,” Schisla says. “Through Litzy, we see God in his people and their actions.” †