Well, it's March 6th and a very late final wrap-up, but after only two days at home, I flew to Seattle where I am spending 10 days with my daughter and two grandchildren while my son-in-law is in Peru on a work related project. It's 5:00 am and for the moment, I'm the only one awake. We'll see if I can get this written.
The Honduras mission accomplished 134 surgeries, a few short of the goal of 150, but due to the high number of patients at screening who needed palate surgery, 150 turned out to be unrealistic. Palates take a minimum of two hours, and often three to repair whereas most lip repairs are one to one and a half. At followup a week later, 120 patients were seen and there were no complications. The local Honduran Operation Smile group is amazing. They have so much less money than some of the other local organizations such as the ones in Nicaragua and Mexico. Those have the support of big corporate sponsors upon which to build their fundraising. In Honduras, they are mainly funded by many small local donors, except for their beautiful clinic which a Japanese company funded in 2006. Despite their "bare bones" operation, they have decided on this lofty goal of eradicating clefts, and are putting the word out all over Honduras that free surgery is available. Many of the older children and adults seen on this mission were from tiny remote villages where they had been hidden away for years, unaware that there was help available. One dream of Op Smile Honduras is that no-one with a cleft will be hiding; they all will come out and be treated. The other dream goes with the first. People will know about Op Smile and babies born with clefts will all will be treated in infancy so there will be no need to hide.
That's all. I'm going to Ethiopia in June and will send out a link.
The Honduras mission accomplished 134 surgeries, a few short of the goal of 150, but due to the high number of patients at screening who needed palate surgery, 150 turned out to be unrealistic. Palates take a minimum of two hours, and often three to repair whereas most lip repairs are one to one and a half. At followup a week later, 120 patients were seen and there were no complications. The local Honduran Operation Smile group is amazing. They have so much less money than some of the other local organizations such as the ones in Nicaragua and Mexico. Those have the support of big corporate sponsors upon which to build their fundraising. In Honduras, they are mainly funded by many small local donors, except for their beautiful clinic which a Japanese company funded in 2006. Despite their "bare bones" operation, they have decided on this lofty goal of eradicating clefts, and are putting the word out all over Honduras that free surgery is available. Many of the older children and adults seen on this mission were from tiny remote villages where they had been hidden away for years, unaware that there was help available. One dream of Op Smile Honduras is that no-one with a cleft will be hiding; they all will come out and be treated. The other dream goes with the first. People will know about Op Smile and babies born with clefts will all will be treated in infancy so there will be no need to hide.
That's all. I'm going to Ethiopia in June and will send out a link.
