On October 16th, Plasticos Foundation will be having our first-ever mud run. Come join us! You can get involved by running, sponsoring a runner or donating. To register, visit www.PlasticosMudRun.com.
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Hope in Cambodia
The day of our flight, I’m filled with a sea of emotions. I am so nervous and anxious; I begin labeling and excessively organizing my belongings. I wonder what will I see this time and will break my heart, again. These missions are always so sobering for me. This is
June 25th- Last Day of Surgery
It is the last day of Surgery for the Plasticos Team in Siem Reap, Cambodia. When the medical instruments are cleaned and put away, and each patient is in the ward- recovering, we will have performed more than 50 surgical procedures on 20 patients. This is not the usual trip
5th Day of Surgery
I must confess something. I’ve developed a crush on a Khmer boy named Boran Buon. He was admitted to the children’s ward for a pre op about half hour ago. What struck me about him was that since the first clinic day, he was smiling. He was the only kid
Harsh Reality
Our 3rd Day at the Angkor Hospital for Children demonstrated the reality of delivering medical care in Cambodia. A young boy was brought to the hospital the previous day with acute abdominal pain, and during the following 24 hours, the child rapidly decompensated and went into septic shock. They were
So close yet so far…
Despite the many reconstructive surgical missions that I have been on, I always dread the haunting feelings the patient and I experience when I am unable to help. This by far is the hardest situation that I and other Plasticos Team members experience. I am not referring to patients with
Screening day
9 ‘o clock AM. It is a beautiful day at the Angkor Children’s hospital. The blazing sun bakes my skin, sticky from the engulfing, inescapable humidity. Step into the screening room. Ahhhh – “the refuge,” as Paul calls it – at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. On the other side of the
Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow in Cambodia
Our mission is bittersweet. Yesterday, with the help of two Cambodian surgeons, I unlocked the hidden hand of a quiet and beautiful 7 year old girl named Samuth . In the Cambodian language of Khmer, the word for beautiful is pronounced Sa’ad. The irony and double entendre was that her
Second Day of Surgery- 4th Day
Today is our fourth day at the Angkor Hospital for Children. The sky is overcast threatening rain as the Plasticos team walk to the Hospital already at 7:30 AM, the heat and humidity are stifling as we enter a side door into a hallway, past the surgical ward to the