“What would you think if I sang out of tune?
Would you stand up and walk out on me?
Lend me your ears and I’ll sing you a song
And I’ll try not to sing out of key”

That is Paula in the background, piled high with kids in Pre-Op. Paula is one of our pediatricians on the trip. She makes sure that the kids are healthy enough for surgery, healthy enough to go home after and enough in between. (Also she looks after the rest of our team members if something comes up!)

“Oh, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, I get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends”

Above are Carla and Andrea. Carla is in 6th grade and Andrea is in 2nd. Carla enjoys learning about math and English and other languages in school, but mostly she likes to come home and play computer games. Andrea likes to draw and play with dolls when she is not fending off her 8 other brothers and sisters. I think they will be friends for  a long time to come

Here are 2 new friendships that formed at Rotaplast. Damaris  and Yulissa on the right became fast friends when they shared a room the night before surgery. Damaris is 8 years old. She is adopted so her past cleft palate surgical history is unknown. She has a parrot, named Yito, that she is trying to teach to talk. Yulissa is wearing her new quilt. She is 14 and in the 8th grade. Her favorite subject is hand crafts, This is her 4th surgery. They spent some pre-surgery wait time, studying the maps we put up where we had all marked we were from.

“What do I do when my love is away?
Does it worry you to be alone?
How do I feel by the end of the day?
Are you sad because you’re on your own?”

Here is a young man that is ready for surgery, just marches right in, but he still has an entourage, lets call them, his paparazzi.

Christopher, below, is one of 14 children, and the second youngest. He came to Rotaplast on a 12 hour bus ride. Christopher also has a parrot. When he grows up, he would like to be a doctor. He is studying math, languages and physics in school.

“No, I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm, get high with a little help from my friends
Mm, gonna try with a little help from my friends”

Above, is Andrea, putting all her faith and trust into the Rotaplast doctors as they get ready for anesthesia. She looks to be in good hands. I know that she will be fine because just before she went into surgery, she made the greatest friend ever… with our Quatermaster Mike. If he has your back, you know you are in good hands.