Board of directors:
Sveta Buyanin, director
I was born and raised in the Russian Federation. During my time at the school and University, I studied the Spanish language and the Hispanic culture. In 1989 my second child, Alex, was born. At 18 months, Alex was diagnosed with sarcoma of the lungs. The doctors said that his life was in danger and gave him only three weeks to live. Three months later, however, the diagnosis was lifted. Alex was still very sick and no one could identify the problem. Throughout the next four years, he was examined by the best doctors in Russia, but still the cause of the illness eluded them.
In 1995 I immigrated to America with my husband, two children, and a cat. Upon coming to America, we were seen at the Children's Hospital in Seattle. All of the hospital's resources were directed towards discovering what was wrong with my son. His illness persisted, and in 1997 he underwent a surgical procedure at Children's Hospital. The operation was successful, and he has been living a healthy life ever since. If the surgery had been performed a few years earlier, the results may have been better, but confusion over the cause of his illness delayed the procedure.
As a mother of three children, I can empathize with any parent who has had to go through the ordeal of worrying about her child's health. I don't want any mother to experience the helplessness and fear of not being able to help your child due to a lack of resources to doctors and medicine. I want every child to be able to receive the best possible medical care. Because of these reasons, I would like to put my efforts, as a designer and an individual, toward Help Cuba Now.