CLAPA-Cambridge Branch
Supporting Families
Throughout East of England
DECEMBER 2009, GUWAHATI, INDIA
We screened over 600 patients. There were two teams for 2 lots of 5 days operating. In total we operated on 520 patients on 10 operating tables over 10 days. Personally I did 20 cases, 5 under local anaesthetic in young adults over 15 years of age. The highlight for me was catching up with Kiran, my dancing girl from the Blue Peter show whose lip I did in May. I was able to repair her palate this time. She came to give a goodbye card to myself and to my friend Dr Phil McDonald who was the anesthetist who looked after her when I was operating. We both were very moved when her father held our hands and said; "Thank you, you have changed my daughter's life forever"
That is why we go to help....(Per Hall)
Mr Hall, Kiran - dancing girl from Blue Peter Appeal and Dr Phil McDonald. December 09
Kiran - dancing girl from Blue Peter
before her surgery (Guwahati, May 09)
My long term wish is to be part of a sustainable project in Ethiopia and we got a long way towards this on this trip. We have made a good contact with the professor of Surgery in Jimma who is very keen for small groups of surgeons and anaesthetists to travel over and spend 2 week blocks with intensive training of the surgical and anaesthetic trainees so we can help them build their own Plastic Surgical and Cleft centre. I hope to go in March 2012 as part of the first team running these surgical rotations which will be spread over the next 2 years. Per Hall, Consultant Plastic Surgeon, Addenbrooke’s Hospital NHS, Cambridge
It can take as little as 45 minutes and £150 to change a child’s life forever. Thanking you for your support!
My name is Anne Procter and I work in the Plastics surgery unit of Main Theatres at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge. I drive to work and the infrastructure is all mapped out for me and I don’t think twice about how I get to work and when I get there I get on with my work with all the super technology available to me. I live in a world where I take many things for granted. The other day I got home and there was a power cut and it annoyed me. Then I readdressed my thoughts and calmed down. This was because in May 2011 I went on another Operation Smile mission to Ethiopia where I and the many volunteers I worked with, constantly reminded ourselves how lucky we are for living in a country where do not lack the basic amenities and how we take things for granted.
It was a two-week mission and Ethiopia was challenging. We arrived in Jimma and the first few days were spent on screening the patients. Then the OR (Operating room) nurses as we are called, start getting the theatres ready. This was a task in itself as our shipment (everything we need for the operations including instruments) were somewhere in the country either in customs or on the road to Jimma which was a 13 hour drive from Addis Ababa. We managed we left over supplies to start the operations as scheduled for the first couple of days. I surprised myself as to how good I became at improvising and working with so little.
We operated on 105 patients during the two-week mission. All the operations were done in one room with 3 operating tables. There were 4 plastic surgeons, 4 anaesthetists and several local nursing, dental and medical students who scrubbed up to assist. My task together with my colleague Niamh was to manage the three operating teams, keep the supplies coming and look after the patients. The Operation Smile team had about 60 volunteers, however there was just as many local and other support staff that were part of the team helping to run things smoothly.
My impressions – Challenging, because it was hot (temperature–wise) and I struggled to get a good night’s sleep, after working late (7,8 and 9pm) and that took the toll on my energy levels. We had power cuts and we ran out of water sometimes so washing hands for scrubbing up was definitely a challenge. The autoclave broke down several times. The scrub staff disappeared and was hard to trace.
Rewarding – seeing the smiles on not, just the patient but a family and a whole community. The transformation is amazing.
I also got a sense of togetherness and friendship with the volunteers, not to mention the hundreds of laughs and good times with people from all over the world.” Anne Procter, Staff Nurse,
Addenbrooke’s Hospital NHS, Cambridge
Mrs Sarah Hall, Operation Smile photographer with her husband Mr Hall.