Kolkata, India: Jan. 11-15, 2012
January 30, 2012 — Soumen Dey Malakar, Program Coordinator, Operation Smile India
It is with great pleasure that I would like to share with you the results of the local medical mission held in Kolkata, India, from January 11-15, 2012. The team of 38 volunteers screened 84 patients and provided 78 successful procedures for 59 children.
The patients treated on this mission came from Murshidabad, Howrah and South 24 Parganas districts of West Bengal.
This is Operation Smile India’s fifth medical mission in the city of Kolkata, and the second at the Central Hospital - South Eastern Railway, Garden Reach, Kolkata.
Bulti, a 15-year-old girl with a unilateral cleft lip, left a lasting impression on the team. A year ago, she came to our Comprehensive Care Center in Kolkata for surgery. But her anxiety overcame her and our doctors decided not to operate on her then.
Bulti came to the medical mission in Kolkata, this time with her father by her side. The first thing she said was, “Sorry, please do not refuse me for my earlier behavior.” Certainly, Operation Smile India was more than happy to see the brave, new Bulti who was willing to take the plunge for a new smile and a new life!
She was scheduled for surgery on first day of surgery. She was one of the last cases of the day and before she went into the operating room for her surgery, she spent the day cheering on other kids telling them how the surgery would get them brand new smiles!
When Bulti finally emerged from the OR after surgery with her brand new smile, it was a moment the entire team was happy to witness.
I am honored to have had the opportunity to work with incredible volunteers who worked together to change the lives of Bulti and many others like her. Also special thanks to Dr. Anjana Malhotra, who effortlessly played the dual roles of the hospital head of surgery and the mission team field medical director.
- Photos by Nilesh Kadam, Biomed Technician, Operation Smile India
