2019 Chittagong, Bangladesh
Day 1-3: Arrival in Chittagong
Chittagong, Bangladesh
What has always struck me about the people that I meet on Rotaplast missions can be summed up by this quote: “The world is changed by your example, not your opinion.” (Paulo Coelho). As we begin a ne... Read More »
Day 4- Lean In
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Where we are staying in our hotel in a bustling downtown area, there is a lot of honking as drivers communicate with each other often to squeeze past each other in tight passages. For some people, the soun... Read More »
Day 5- Operations Commence
Chittagong, BangladeshChittagong, Bangladesh
Operation days are the most exciting days for me. I wake up hours early, envisioning in my mind the arm strokes of the Surgeons as they craft a new face. Or the look on a parent’s face when they see Read More »
Day 6- Keep You Forever
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Birthdate: 01/01/08. That looked strange to me. And it should have, because it was made up. The truth is that when Shathi came into the clinic there were a few strange things we noticed. First, she... Read More »
Day 7- Stolen Meat
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Some surgeons favor doing Cleft Lip/Palate Repairs and today held many opportunities. Here are some of the before and after pictures of the young children who received drastic changes to their face by th... Read More »
Day 8- Psychological Prison
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Two of the most well-known figures in Rotaplast are Angelo Capozzi (Medical Director) and Paula Fillari (Lead PACU Nurse), who worked together for many decades in a burn clinic in San Francisco. It is not ... Read More »
Day 9- Meet the Team, part 1
Chittagong, Bangladesh
It took us almost 3 days to travel to Bangladesh, only to wake up early every day, to get to a hospital full of ill and injured people, where we spend the whole day attending to their needs. For most Read More »
Day 10- Meet the Team, part 2
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Today we explore the second half of the team’s answers to what inspires them to come on medical missions: Name: Lois Borie Role: OR Nurse # of Rotaplast Missions: 45 “I came on my first mission sim... Read More »
Day 11- “Unlucky”
Chittagong, Bangladesh
There is always one. Usually you can find them right under your nose, attached at your hip, grabbing for all the things you reach for, walking backward to just be in your gaze. One child stands out on in... Read More »
Day 12- Called Toward the Fire
Chittagong, Bangladesh
Sabina is 8 years. It has been 4 years since a “supernatural event” happened to her, claims her mother. The story goes like this: Sabina was in her room when her mother saw smoke coming from her door. ... Read More »
Thank You and Goodnight
Chittagong, Bangladesh
[L->R David Stellway (Anesthesiologist), Joe Anderson (Lead Anesthesiologist), Michelle Benedict (Photojournalist), Jodelle Myhre (Head Nurse), Katherine Gallagher (Lead Pediatrician), Mohammed Hannan ... Read More »
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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 ...
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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 »