| Hemodialysis Project Esther Walter |
Hemodialysis Project Esther Walter
Helmut Walter has been a chef most of his life, from his native Germany he has traveled around the world working as a chef in hotels. While working in Singapore as a chef at the Hyatt, he fell in love with a beautiful piano player and singer who was working at the club across the street. Esther was from Sumatra, and had migrated with her family to Singapore. Since childhood, she was a talented singer and piano player and was playing in clubs and bars in Singapore when she met Helmut. Helmut would walk across the street every night after work to hear her sing. They fell in love and got married in 1971 in Malaysia. Thereafter traveling wherever Helmut’s chef jobs would take him. He would work as a chef in the hotel, she at the piano in the bar. While in Indonesia Esther made a name for herself as a singer and started playing at many of the other large hotels as well. She regularly played at the Shan gri-la Hotel and became quite well known because of it. In 1984 they moved to Mexico when Helmut took the position of executive chef at the Acapulco Plaza. From Acapulco they came to Ixtapa in 1986 where Helmut was the executive chef at the Westin, and later the Camino Real. In Ixtapa, Esther played in all the big hotels and gathered a following of fans among residents and visitors alike. After three years they decided to settle in Ixtapa and opened their own restaurant, the Golden Cookie Shop, a German bakery, restaurant and deli take out. They put in a stage with a piano at the back and from then on Esther only played in her own restaurant. Esther became famous here in Ixtapa, not only for her musical talent but for her kindness and warmth. Much loved by residents and visitors alike, Ester Walter is remembered as the queen of Ixtapa.
Esther suffered from diabetes and over the years grew progressively more ill. She developed renal failure and from September 2000 on, she needed hemodialysis treatment for her kidneys. There are no facilities here in Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo for this treatment and three times a week she had to travel four hours each way by car to Acapulco to get the necessary treatment. The constant travel took its toll and Esther passed away on June 9, 2001. In his grief, Helmut decided to create a foundation to bring these facilities to Zihuatanejo, so that whomever needed this treatment could get it and would never have to suffer through the long trips to Acapulco that Esther did. In memory of his wife Helmut created the Esther Walter Hemodialysis Project and has been hard at work getting it off the ground.
It is a service Zihuatanejo needs and the community has been quick to support Helmut’s foundation, with over 36 individuals and organizations already signed on for sponsorship, among them Pepsi, Coca-Cola, Sol, Banamex, Coco y Cia Impresos, local doctors, local and regional newspapers and many others. A great help in getting the project started has been Dr. Daniel Blumenkron Romero, Zihuatanejo’s local doctor specializing in treatment for diabetics. The number of people with diabetes in Zihuatanejo is around 10,000, with 50% of them almost guaranteed to need dialysis treatment in the coming years, there are fourteen patients in need of dialysis in Zihuatanejo now. The closest treatment clinic is still in Acapulco but Zihuatanejo does have the equipment to set people up on Peritoneal Dialysis, an at-home alternative that can be substituted when the proper facilities are not available. It is not without costs or danger although, at home treatment requires a very high level of hygiene and water purity and if not administered correctly can have fatal results. For this reason the priority of the Esther Walter Hemodialysis Project is to bring the complete dialysis facilities to Zihuatanejo where anyone in need of the service can receive it and under the care and administration of trained doctors, nurses and technicians. This project is no small feat but Helmut is already well on his way. With the support of local and state governments, he has already secured the land to build the clinic on. The land was donated by the government and is located in a courtyard inside the grounds of the General Hospital.
The government will be providing the doctor specializing in kidney treatment and the nurses, but all equipment, building construction and maintenance will be provided by the foundation. The foundation will be ongoing, as maintenance costs will always be a large part of it. For example, the filter required on the dialysis machine only lasts 7 hours (2 treatments) and costs $5-$6,000 pesos ($550-$650 US) a piece to replace.
Notario Publico #3 has donated the time to prepare all necessary legal documents to register the foundation, solicit funds and to proceed with the construction plans. All the building materials, architectural plans and electrical installation have likewise been donated. The construction process itself will be highly involved, as there are many specific needs to accommodate the dialysis machines. The greatest concern is water purity, dialysis machines circulate water throughout the body, the water needs to be 99% pure and water purification facilities will have to be included on site. The Rotary Club Nueves Generacion of Ixtapa is helping to buy the dialysis machines; they cost around $200,000 pesos or $25,000 US a piece. The machine manufacturer provides the training of technicians and water purification engineers on the use of the machines and water purity requirements. At the moment they are only waiting on one more document, the state health departments’ official approval to build on hospital land, they have received the approval from all other necessary entities. Once they have this paper, they can start construction. Once construction is complete and satisfactory, they can buy dialysis machines, train technicians and begin providing service. But the fundraising is ongoing.
An average dialysis treatment lasts about three hours; it is painless but requires constant monitoring as the dialysis machines circulate needed vitamins, nutrients and blood cleaning chemicals throughout the body. The cost of the treatment itself is often prohibitive, $12-$1,500 pesos (around $150US) per treatment and the patient usually needs about three treatments a week. But the cost of dialysis itself, is just one of the medical expenses of diabetes where expensive supplements and medicines are often needed. The foundation will have prices based on need, for those who could not afford the treatment any other way it will be provided freely. Those who need it and can afford to pay a little will get the service at cost and only those who can afford it will pay full price. The long-term goals of the foundation are not only to provide a much needed service here, but also to start educational projects to educate the community on Diabetes diagnosis and treatment. They also hope to be able to expand the project into other communities as well. Since the closest facilities now are four hours away they are expecting to be receiving patients not just from Zihuatanejo but from all the surrounding communities as well. In anticipation of this demand, Helmut hopes to eventually have eight working dialysis machines, but the project can start with as few as two. In his grief at the loss of his wife, Helmut Walter has decided to do something to benefit the community. A worthy sentiment and a worthy cause we could all feel proud to support.
Brochures with this information can be found at numerous locations around Ixtapa and Zihuatanejo, notably at Helmut’s Golden Cookie Shop restaurant in Ixtapa on the second floor of the Los Patios Shopping Center. They are planning to re-release copies of Esther’s CDs to sell as a fundraiser as well as coffee mugs, commemorating Esther and the project, which will be available at the restaurant. They have a Banamex account set up for donations locally, Banco Banamex, “Proyecto Hemodialisis AC”, CTA. 14290 SUC. 814. And also a US account: Helmut Walter, California Commerce Bank, Account # 5007986410, 2029 Century Park East, Los Angeles CA 90067. For more information on the Esther Walter Hemodialysis Project, contact Helmut Walter at Tel. (01755) 553-0310, 553-1003, Fax: (01755) 553-0818 or by e-mail at: gocookie@mail.com
December 2001
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