Lima, Peru 2018
We had a very successful 7th surgical mission to Lima, Peru November 5-9th, 2018. We returned to the same government hospital Dos de Mayo and continued teaching local physicians, medical students and nurses.
During the week:
- we performed 123 surgeries (100 cleft team and 23 eye surgeries).
- we performed a total of 160 procedures on these patients (some patients had more than 1 procedure like ear tubes, dental extractions, etc.).
- 82 hearing aids were fit
- 168 pairs of glasses were fit, and 189 vision exams given.
- 132 sessions of speech therapy were given.
The really cool part is that along with helping more children with cleft lip and cleft palate, we have been able to grow the mission to help children with pediatric eye problems that need surgery like strabismus (having weakness in eye muscles that causes the eyes to go in different directions) and ptosis (an upper eyelid that hangs down). We also developed a dental program and expanded the hearing aids and glasses program.
So, in total, we were able to help over 400 patients!
Each of these children is an individual with hopes and dreams, that we were able to significantly help improve their lives and their futures. One little girl who really stood out to me is named Anali. She is a beautiful 11 month old girl born with a cleft lip. Her family did not have the resources to help her get the surgery done. She was carried in the arms of her parents over 8 hours by bus to arrive in Lima. The moment I met Anali, she came right into my arms to be held and then she just calmly felt my face and played with name tag. And then she stared into my eyes, and I felt like her soul was talking to my soul and thanking me for coming to help her. It was a very powerful experience. She had a very successful surgery of fixing her cleft lip and also placing ear tubes to help her hear better. Her parents were so grateful! Anali's worth is priceless and I was humbled to be able to help her.
We look forward to continuing to help the wonderful people of Peru when we return November 2-8, 2019.
~ Ann Brown
Above photo, Ann & Ryan with little Anali.