Posts from Past Missions
Celebrating a Legacy of Service: UC Davis and Rotaplast
Davis, California
For decades, Rotaplast and the University of California, Davis have shared a powerful and enduring partnership—united by a common purpose: to deliver life-changing surgical care to communities in need around the globe. Through this shared mission, UC Davis Health has
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 worried about the physical
Day 12 – Post clinic part two
Agra, India
Another successful mission completed Of all the patients who have had surgery in the last few days, most are still being seen by the surgeons and nurses today. This is the second part of the post clinic. Bandages are changed
Day 11 – Post clinic part one
Agra, India
Today is our last day of the mission in Firozabad. This mission is mainly characterized by the many burns. Unfortunately, it still happens very often that children get burns in and around the house. The biggest cause is actually that
Day 10 – The last full day of surgery
Agra, India
The last full day of surgery is a great success. Many patients have been operated on today with complex burns. The total will be 58 patients with 92 procedures/surgery at the end of the mission. This morning we started with
Day 9 – a puzzle every day…
Agra, India
Sometimes it is difficult to schedule the operations here in Firozabad. Not because there are no registrations (despite the fact that there may also be some more), but mainly because there are ‘no shows’ and ‘Walk Ins’. If a patient
Day 8 – start of the second part of the mission…
Agra, India
This mission is characterized by the many burns and the misery that this brings to their lives daily. We can imagine that the (often painful) scars make it so hard to play and move freely. It makes it difficult
Day 6 – Not only “lips”…
Agra, India
Rotaplast not only operates on cleft lips, but also open palates and not to mention scars after burns. The scars are not only painful, but often cause limitations. The scars do not grow. They are not flexible. They become ‘tight’
Day 5 – ‘The Ward’ is a dynamic place
Agra, India
An important and dynamic place during the mission is ‘The Ward’. This is monitored and organized by Agnes. All patients arrive here the day before their planned operation and then spend the night to be ‘seen’ by the doctors in
Day 4 – First day of creating smiles and changing lives
Agra, India
The Rotaplast team has started to make a first beautiful operation day. Everyone is settled in their place and coordinate the first operations with each other. There are 3 operating tables and with that there is a good ‘hit to
Day 3 – What you see is what you get: pre-clinic
Agra, India
A campaign has been conducted and that resulted in a lot of registrations. The procedure is this mission according to Covid protocol and that means that an extensive covid test is taken with every applicant / patient. A test that
Day 2 – Press conference at the Ravi Unity Hospital
Agra, India
At 05:00 we leave from the airport with a bus to the hotel. And after a long drive of 4 hours we arrive there. It is then 09:15 and we first have breakfast. We have a lot of respect for
Day 1 – On our way
Agra, India
From March 13 to 25, Rotaplast International will again do a medical mission in Agra, India with Rotaplast Nederland. Agra is a district in Uttar Pradesh (a state in India). There are approximately 1.6 million inhabitants, the majority of whom
DAY TWELVE – Saying Goodbye
Cebu City, Philippines
71 Smiles Saved. 71 Lives Changed. As the patients all came back to the hospital for Post-Clinic, the atmosphere was markedly more upbeat than Pre-Clinic days. Smiles were everywhere — parents, surgeons, nurses, children…even strangers. 42 cleft lip repair and
DAY ELEVEN – Last Day of Surgeries
Cebu City, Philippines
The Lingo Family Returns On day three, we introduced the Lingo family (As). Today is the last day of surgeries, but the first day of a new life for Aldrich Lingo and his family. This morning, Aldrich and his mother
DAY TEN – Reunions
Cebu City, Philippines
Reunited On Day Six’s blog, we shared the story about how Tom Fox found 5-year-old Nina playing in an abandoned parking lot and convinced her parents to get surgery for her cleft palate. Tom and Anton asked around the neighborhood
DAY NINE – A Personal Story
Cebu City, Philippines
Debi’s Diary As the missions official Historian, I’ve been writing thus far in 3rd person. Today’s blog is my own personal story about a 5 year old boy named Joshua who stole my heart. The hospital has no central air
DAY EIGHT – Milestones & Memories
Cebu City, Philippines
A Milestone Is Celebrated As many Rotarians and Rotaplast volunteers gathered around, Past District Governor Antonio “Anton” Florendo remarks, “This kid right here is Aeron Skyler Tabas. He is one year and five months old and he is the 1,500th
DAY SEVEN – Greatness & Gratitude
Cebu City, Philippines
We Get Around This morning, the team exited the hotel to find a school bus waiting to take them to the hospital. Just when we thought the bus was full, they started folding down the seats in the aisle to
DAY SIX – Stories That Matter
Cebu City, Philippines
Lasting Impressions Mission Director, Tom Fox recounted a story from his October 2009 Rotaplast trip to Cebu. It was a Sunday morning, his day off, and he was taking a walk around the city. Along his walk, he passed through
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