Open Heart

Eight sick Rwandan children leave their families behind, embarking on a life-or-death journey to Sudan, where they will be part of a select group to undergo open-heart surgery. The Salam Center is the only hospital in all of Africa where heart operations are performed free of charge. The children's heart valves have been damaged by rheumatic heart disease resulting from untreated strep throat, and some of them have only a few months to live. In Africa, there are around 13 million children who suffer from the disease, while in the United States it is virtually nonexistent. Dr. Emmanuel Rusingiza, one of the two pediatric cardiologists in Rwanda, and the Italian Dr. Gino Strada, the passionate chief of the Salam Center, have to fight not only for the lives of the children, but also for the future of the center. The devaluation of the Sudanese currency has cut deeply into the hospital's budget. Controversial Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir visits to talk about finance, and the two doctors keep repeating what they see as the central issue: the Salam Center believes that medical treatment is a fundamental and inalienable right that should be available free of charge to everyone in the world.