Volunteer Spotlight: Susan Fasino
Since the start of 2020, LIG Global has collaborated with an organization called Commission to Every Nation (CTEN) to improve lives in a small town called Maneadero, Ensenada, Mexico. We were introduced to CTEN by this month’s spotlight volunteer, Susan Fasino.
Since the start of 2020, LIG Global has collaborated with an organization called Commission to Every Nation (CTEN) to improve lives in a small town called Maneadero, Ensenada, Mexico. We were introduced to CTEN by this month’s spotlight volunteer, Susan Fasino. Susan is a physical therapist by trade and also is CEO, Dr. Claudine Sylvester’s cousin! Over the past 23 years, Susan has served as a medical missionary across the globe. Through her work she has traveled to Romania, Haiti three times, the Dominican Republic, Kenya, Uganda, and Guatemala providing care to some of the world’s most vulnerable populations. However, Susan has lived in Mexico full-time for the past 10 years.
Since moving to Mexico, Susan has started three different special needs orphanages across Mexico and now alongside her husband she focuses on serving medically fragile and special needs children in Maneadero. In today’s work, Susan and her husband implement a unique strategy for therapy that utilizes horses to help children who are affected by a variety of mental and physical issues. Of all the incredible things Susan has accomplished, one of the most admirable qualities of hers is her selflessness. This is best exemplified by Susan and her husband fostering three children that have been rescued from a violent and abusive family and even put them into a private school with hopes of helping them catch up on their education and have better opportunities in the future.
Susan’s first exposure to LIG Global came through her cousin Claudine when Dr. Sylvester asked her to join us on a medical mission to the Dominican Republic. Alongside her daughter, Susan set out on a trip to the Dominican Republic where her daughter became heavily influenced by their work and ultimately decided to become a nurse herself! Now as a partner of LIG Global, Susan has helped us renovate a home for a family with two special needs children by making the bathroom handicap accessible and by adding access to hot water. This has allowed the family to have convenient restroom access as opposed to a lone outhouse that was not accessible for the children. We continued collaborating with Susan and have now enacted a telemedicine program for the community of Maneadero and the children that Susan serves. By providing access to telemedicine services, families whose children need specialized care can get the care they need more regularly. There are currently 25 children in the program and we hope that we can continue to grow our telemedicine program with Susan and CTEN.
In Susan’s words, “The best thing I love about LIG is that they are not just concerned about going somewhere one time for a few days and that's it. They are in it for the long haul. They want to make a permanent change in the communities they visit [and] are interested in teaching and helping the community sustain the care they need into the future.”
We are lucky to have a partner and volunteer with such closely aligned goals and passions. Thank you Susan for your continued efforts and support. We can’t wait to see where our partnership takes us and just how many lives we can truly transform!
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