Although I have been on three medical missions, this was my first as trip coordinator and well as my first in Cambodia. I had visited the country 11 years ago and fell in love with it. The stillness and awe of Angkor Watt and the jungle sounds that would come
O.k., o.k. here is my post already.
Sunday Sunday……so good to me!
It’s now Sunday morning, and I cannot believe how fast this trip has gone. This has been a busy trip; but with such good out-comes. Peter, our anesthesiologist has just gone to the airport; returning to the UK. It’s been great to see him again (the first time being 2
A Patient Returns
The Cambodian parents have been very gracious about sharing their children’s stories. One of those stories started over a year ago. The father of this little girl from Koskong province told us that she was walking behind her house holding her mother’s hand about 6 a.m. one morning when a
A Cambodian Tale
During the “killing fields” in Cambodia, doctors, nurses, educators, and literate people were killed. The Pol Pot regime believed that they could control the people, as long as they were not educated. Sophy Khan was a young boy who lived with his family in the city of Phnom Penh. They
Cambodia 2011 – Arrival
The team has all gathered safely together in Cambodia. For this trip there is a small team of 6; 3 doctors, 2 nurses, and a co-coordinator. We breezed through customs, and were met by Sivpheng, our local host. The heat and humidity was immediately apparent even though it was 9am
Plasticos in Armenia
Today I met with 8 of our patients for follow up. Two of them were had cleft operation, others were with contractors and keloids. All of them were very happy especially their parents. Vladik who had perianal keloids and has been operated for that was jumping all the time, he
Final thoughts on Armenia from the Team Leader
Armenia, as all of our trips overseas, has been a wonderful, heart-warming and incredibly fulfilling experience, teeming with overwhelming kindness and caring by our staff and hosts alike. What is truly exciting about Armenia is the opportunity to establish a self sustaining program of plastic surgery care for children and
From our Anesthesiologist
The number of children requiring surgical repair turned out to be so high that we started operating on the first day and did not stop until the last day of the mission. Although the workload was tremendous, the smiling and appreciative faces of children and parents were extremely rewarding. Furthermore,
A Fond Farewell
About two weeks ago I met the Plasticos Foundation team, which came to Armenia to help children with different types of pathologies. What happened next was completely unexpected for me. I was absolutely amazed and fascinated with love and care which was in the eyes of each member of the
Lip Service: Orphanage Babies
I will never forget several of the children and infants I was privileged to care for in Armenia. Many were from the orphanages. Despite the hub-bub of activity and cacophony of background noise including languages foreign to their ear they seem delighted to have stimulation to the otherwise presumably sterile