I just recently returned from a very successful medical mission in Ecuador. As a part of my non-profit organization, Destination Hope I do two of these medical missions each year. These missions are undergone to help and treat children in Third World countries suffering from facial deformities. I am passionate about helping children in need, and am so pleased with the success of this most recent venture.
People who are born with deformities often go through life in a constant struggle. They find themselves lonely, and fighting for acceptance from those they interact with every day. And for people in Third World countries, they often lack even the most basic of medical care. That means that despite how painful the deformity may be, they are forced to live with it.
This mission we traveled to Baeza Ecuador, which is in eastern Ecuador just at the entryway to the Amazon Basin. There were two plastic surgeons, and one otolaryngologist, and we ended up able to treat 52 patients in all.
The primary surgeries undertaken were cleft lip, cleft palate repair, and microtia repair. A microtia repair is a procedure involving the placement of a new external ear for patients that are not born with one, or who are only born with a small remnant of an ear. Correcting a cleft palate can mean a child no longer being seen as ‘dumb’ because of a speech problem.
Often times though, these aren’t the only types of needs of these children. Sometimes there are burn victims, or car accident victims, and often times both children and adults will walk for miles just for the chance to be seen by the doctors who visit.
All in all, this was a very successful mission, and very safe for our patients. And the feeling of truly helping someone in need just can’t be topped. I eagerly await the next mission.
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