Paul Kupras (quartermaster), Neal Fleming (lead anesthesiologist) and Michael Yim (anesthesiologist) unload boxes of medical supplies for our mission to Agra, India.
Seventeen medical and non-medical volunteers gathered at San Francisco International Airport Sunday, November 26, renewing friendships and making new ones. We are headed to Agra on a Rotaplast Mission to repair cleft lips & palates, and burns for as many children as our time there allows.
Dennis Dundas (Medical Director), Jeannie Petro (PACU Nurse), Sophie Saucedo (Patient Transporter) and Bryan Stamm (Lead Pediatrician) waiting in line.
Chelsea Green (Recreation Therapist), Renee Paquier (PACU Assistant), Brian Walker, and Sophie Saucedo pose for a photo.
Paul Kupras keeps control of our 32 boxes of medical supplies. After making sure all of these boxes cleared customs, we flew sixteen hours to Dubai. Two more hours of flying and we arrived in New Dehli at 2:45 am Tuesday.
We are now a team of nineteen after picking up two more volunteers here. Our luggage and all 32 boxes of medical supplies arrived and cleared customs without difficulty!
Our escort welcomed each of us with a beautiful marigold lei. Left to right: Renee Paquier, Brian Walker, Leanna Hooper (OR Nurse), Steve Hooper (Sterilizer), Pam Dundas (Head Nurse), Dennis Dundas, Jeannie Petro, Chelsea Green (Recreation Therapsit), Neal Fleming, Paula Fillari (Lead PACU Nurse), Michael Yim, Marguerite Fleming (Photo Journalist), and Bryan Stamm.
We then boarded a bus for a four hour ride to Agra and checked into The Clarks Hotel. After a short nap and lunch, we’ll head over to Nayati Hospital to check it out.
In this season of Thanksgiving, we are incredibly grateful to be here with Rotaplast to perform these lifechanging surgeries.