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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Thursday, February 5, 2015 | 20 Family vows no one should lose a chance at life over $20 by Herb Garbutt Oakville Beaver Staff It was a grim reality they just couldn't ignore. Just a month earlier, the Edgar/Villagomez family had decided to sponsor a child in Ecuador suffering from cancer, allowing her to realize her dream of visiting the Galapagos Islands. The arrangements were made and the family had been in touch with little Natalia, who was excited about making the trip with her family in a few weeks. The eight-year-old would not get the opportunity to make the trip, though, as cancer claimed her life before she could visit the islands. A grim reality It was only afterwards they discovered that Natalia's family had been unable to pay for their daughter's cancer treatments. Even with half of the $40 payment being subsidized by the government, Natalia's family couldn't afford it. "It was so sad that they couldn't come up with $20 to save their daughter," said Karla Villagomez, a Grade 12 student at Appleby College. "It was heartbreaking. It's something so simple. We wanted to help. No one should lose a life for something so simple." Edgar, who was a teacher in Ecuador, is also offering Spanish lessons. The lessons are free, though a contribution to the fundraising efforts would be appreciated. She will teach the lessons every Tuesday and Wednesday until March 2 at a pair of local cafés, Aroma Café and Taste of Colombia. Anyone interested in taking lessons or donating to the family's campaign can contact Alexandra at afajardo@cogeco.ca. At the beginning The connection, or re-connection, with Ecuador began last March when Villagomez was preparing for a school service trip. The Grade 12 Appleby College student was given the option of several countries she could visit to participate in a two-week community-service project. Villagomez chose Ecuador, the country where her mom grew up. Villagomez had been to Ecuador when she was five, visiting her grandmother in Guayaquil, the country's largest city, and looked forward to returning. "I remembered it, but being older this time, I thought I would appreciate it a lot more," Villagomez said. "We stayed in a more rural province, so it was a lot different that way, too." She and others were helping restore a mangrove forest that had once been a tourist site. By restoring it, they hoped to create employment and generate revenue for the region. Villagomez said it was interesting to experience a completely different lifestyle. "You never had a watch. Time didn't really matter. The only way you really knew the time was by breakfast, lunch and dinner," she said. "Cousins lived behind you, grandparents lived across the street. Families were really close." Toward the end of the trip, Villagomez became ill and spent some in a local hospital. There, she saw firsthand the heartbreak a family can feel. see Family on p.32 Pictured from left, Maria Villagomez, Karla Villagomez, Andres Villagomez, Victoria Edgar, Alexandra Edgar, and Brock Edgar. The family is determined to visit Ecuador and raise funds in support of SOLCA (The Society for the Fight Against Cancer), the only hospital in Ecuador that offers radiotherapy and chemotherapy treatments for cancer patients. | photo by Eric Riehl ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) "We go to Starbucks and spend $20," said Karla's mother, Alexandra Edgar. "We had to do something about it." The family is now planning its own trip. In blood pressure, muscle pain, restless legs and twitchy eyelids? You need MAGsmart a delicious powdered magnesium glycinate formula to calm restless legs , soothe muscle pain , stop heart palpitations, normalize blood pressure and aid restful sleep . 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