2018 Chittagong, Bangladesh
Day One and Two – Chittagong Crew Arrives!
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Our Rotaplast crew met in San Francisco full of excitement and anticipation! We loaded up on an Emirates A380 Airbus and landed 15 hours later in Dubai; the flight was was very smooth, the flight attenda... Read More »
Day 3 – First Clinic Day!
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Our excited 2018 Chittagong Team left for the hospital at 6:30 am. We were greeted by a large colorful group of families! Potential Patients! The people are lovely and friendly! Karen Davis, Pediatric Nurs... Read More »
Day 4 – First Day of Surgery!
Chittagong, Bangladesh
After much anticipation, surgery begins! Our first patient, Sha hitches a ride from Head Nurse Sandra Swiatek, of Pennsylvania, into the OR… Nishu travelled 5 hours by bus to have plastic surgery t... Read More »
Day 5 – Surgery Day 2!!!
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Dr. Ron Gemberling of El Granada, CA, led the day’s first surgery with a cleft palate procedure. Dr. Gemberling is an Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery, Stanford University; he is a member of ... Read More »
Day 6 – Surgery Day 3
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Team work – Dr. Worland performing the final surgery of the day, a contracture release, Dr. Solis harvesting the skin graft, Dr. Gemberling and Head Nurse Sandy observe the procedure, releasing a co... Read More »
Day 7 – Mohammad’s Big Day!
Chittagong, Bangladesh
I met the most adorable boy, Mohammad who is 8 years old. Mohammad had an accident about 13 months ago, he tripped and fell into a pot of hot cooking oil. Most families living in rural areas cook their... Read More »
Day 8 – Surgeries continue we meet Pakhi!
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Pakhi is a delightful 6 year old with a severe wide cleft lip. He is one of 7 children and his father is a rickshaw driver. Pakhi’s family lives in the village nearby the Southern Medical Colleg... Read More »
Day 9 – So many burn victims
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Sharmin has an elbow contracture from a kitchen burn requiring surgery. She is unable to move her left arm. Dr. Worland performs surgery, including a skin graft to allow freedom of movement. A local do... Read More »
Our Team says farewell for now
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Our team says goodbye to our patients, Rotary and Rotaract partners. Meet more of our team volunteers – Brian Walker, our Mission Director and Quartermaster – Brian made this difficult job look... Read More »
Day 10 – Last day of surgeries
Chittagong, Bangladesh
It is easy to see the compassion and caring in Dr. Melissa Rinck. On this day, she performed a tooth extraction in the OR as this child is also having surgery. On this mission, Dr. Rinck has completed ma... Read More »
Latest From Around The World
Stories from the Ward
Faridabad, India
A teenage girl with burn contractures on her wrist, elbow, and knee from an untreated accident as a baby arrived at the clinic with her sister, both burdened by exhaustion and hesitant to trust. They were ... Read More »
Dental Care & Cleft ...
Faridabad, India
Cleft lip and palate deformities can result from genetic disorders or syndromes. As technology and databases improve, our understanding of genetic markers and risk factors for these conditions continues to... Read More »