Myriam Gorospe, who does Spanish language communications for us, reports a great deal of activity recently. One family called from Spain looking for a second opinion on spinal cord surgery. Another family called from Mexico looking for assistance with genetic testing. It looks like a chapter is forming in Spain, with ties to Dr. Richard in Paris for expertise on VHL.

Erika Trutmann is acting as a contact person for Switzerland and helping the German group with German language support.

Canada is now an official Canadian Charity and can provide tax receipts acceptable to Revenue Canada. They are helping to expand our French language services on the internet, and will be distributing a bilingual newsletter at least once a year. Many thanks to Tania Durand for making this happen!

Gale Lugo and Joyce Graff have now hosted ten internet chat sessions, working to find the timeslots and technology that suit the majority of participants. Erika from Switzerland and a doctor from India participated in recent sessions. Write to info@vhl.org or 1-800-767-4VHL or your local affiliate for more information.

The VHL Message Boards at Dr. Koop’s are seeing quite a bit of activity. Join in the conversation there, or send your personal questions to info@vhl.org or postal mail. We are always glad to hear from you!

Postal address: VHL Family Alliance, 2001 Beacon St, Suite 208, Boston, MA 02135-7787 USA.

As printed in the VHL Family Forum 7:3, September 1999. For permission to reprint, please contact VHL Family Alliance, editor@vhl.org. Further information is available from the VHL Family Alliance, info@vhl.org.