Rotaplast Bangladesh Mission Team
arrives in Chittagong
After long flights from the U.S. and The Netherlands with a change in aircraft in Dubai, all 28 Bangladesh Mission Team Members converged in the Baggage Claim area of the Chittagong Airport. Some team members knew one another from previous missions while for many, there were new, smiling faces to meet and greet. In keeping with the spirit of an international mission, the team is composed of nineteen Americans and nine members from The Netherlands.
Presented with leis from the Chittagong Rotary Club, Mission Director Rose Marie Joyce and Medical Director Dr. Angelo Capozzi, MD, compare baggage claim checks against 38 boxes of Rotaplast medical equipment and supplies, each box weighing 70 lbs. Essentially, it is the equivalent of outfitting a three operating room hospital.
Mission Team Profiles: (L to R) Lead PACU Nurse Ellen Adams (Sequim, WA) re-unites with Interpreter Rayhana Zannath (Woodridge, IL). Ellen and Rayhana first met and worked closely together during Rotaplast's 2012 Mission to Bangladesh.
The Rotaplast team was given a resounding welcome by the Chittagong Rotary Club of Agrabad by featured speaker President Sufi Mohamed Mizanur Rahman PDF MD flanked by Rose-Marie Joyce and Dr. Angelo Capozzi, MD.
Day 2 is Clinic Day. Tomorrow boxes will be unpacked, equipment assembled, and supplies organized. The mission team will be supported by a small army of dedicated volunteers—many of them Bangladesh medical students. As many as 250+ prospective patients are expected to arrive in the morning for registration. Each will be processed through Medical Records and photographed for their file prior to meeting with a surgeon for evaluation. As the day progresses, decisions will be made on which patients to treat and the mission's surgery schedule determined. Each member of the team is a dedicated professional and an enthusiastic, committed volunteer. The team will repair cleft lips, cleft palates, burn injuries and other life-altering medical conditions for those who don't have access to needed medical care nor the funds to pay even if treatment were available.
James Taylor, Photojournalist
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