Skip to main content
We are thrilled to announce our partnership with Beast Philanthropy!
Watch the Video

India

Scenes of Hope: Vijayawada Medical Mission

India

Scenes of Hope: Vijayawada Medical Mission

During the pre-screening meeting, Operation Smile program coordinator Kevin Thor speaks to the volunteers of the Future of Smiles medical mission*, organized by the Inga Health Foundation in collaboration with Operation Smile and hosted by Dr. Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Institute of Medical Sciences & Research Foundation in Vijayawada, India, from March 24 through April 2, 2018. Over the course of the weeklong program, international and Indian medical volunteers united to provide 93 patients with free, life-changing cleft surgeries. The pre-screening meeting allowed the volunteers to build rapport and comradery with one another while planning for the next day’s patient screenings in which patients receive the comprehensive health evaluations that determine if they are healthy enough to receive surgery. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Screening day has arrived, and a patient’s mother gives a member of the medical records team information about her child before they proceed through the medical specialty stations that make up the screening process. Between the mission’s screening day and the surgical days that followed, 163 potential patients received health evaluations and specialty consultations. Regardless of when a patient arrives at an Operation Smile medical program, they receive the same comprehensive screenings as those given on the designated screening days. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Nurse Ally Billue gathers the vital signs of a patient as she receives a comprehensive health evaluation. This information provides a baseline of knowledge for anesthesiologists to make sure that a patient is healthy enough to be put under anesthesia. It can also reveal underlying conditions that would make surgery unsafe to perform during the mission. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Patient imaging technician Dee Dingalo takes photos of a young patient during screening day. Photos captured by the patient imaging technician are vital components of patients’ medical information and provide cleft surgeons with important visual references for the week’s surgeries. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Vijaya never knew that surgery could repair her cleft lip and palate before she learned about the Vijayawada Future of Smiles medical mission. She traveled 150 kilometers to reach the mission site with the hope of finally receiving surgery after living with her condition for 42 years. Operation Smile Student Programs U-Voice volunteer Shatha Bataineh of Jordan met Vijaya and shared her story: “She said that until this day, children in the street would point at her and laugh. But despite all of the ruthless bullying, despite all of the cruelty she’s had to endure from people, despite all of the difficulties she was forced to live through, Vijaya remained positive; she still met people with kindness and understanding. She didn’t allow all that negativity to cast a shadow on her beautiful, vibrant soul. Vijaya could brighten up your day without saying a word, it’s almost like there’s a light shining through her that’s impossible to miss.” After her medical evaluation revealed that she was healthy enough for surgery, Vijaya was elated to learn that her procedure was scheduled for the program’s third surgical day. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Babies with cleft lip or cleft palate can experience difficulty feeding. As a result, some suffer from malnutrition that can affect their healthy development and prevent them from being able to undergo anesthesia, which was the case for the 6-month-old baby pictured here. During the Future of Smiles mission, nurses like Rodney Kapunan, right, educated the baby’s mother on proper feeding techniques and provided the baby with nutritional support. Bhaskar Mukherjee, program coordinator for Operation Smile in India, will remain in contact with the family to advise on further treatments with the goal of improving the baby’s health so that she can receive surgery at an upcoming mission. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Children engage with the mission’s child life specialists during screening day. These certified professionals provide psychosocial care and educate patients and their families about the entire surgical experience, easing their fears and anxieties through therapeutic play and activities. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Medical students from the host hospital observe Indian cleft surgeon Dr. Vikram Pandit during his consultation with a patient during her health evaluation. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

Eight-month-old Sravania, held by her mother, was enamored by the camera throughout screening day. She arrived at an Operation Smile pre-screening camp last week with an illness and was provided antibiotics and nutrition supplements. A critical tool for recruiting patients living in remote villages, pre-screening camps are effective at determining the best candidates for surgery at upcoming medical missions while also allowing Operation Smile to earn the trust of those potential patients and their families. Fortunately, the treatments Sravania received at the camp were successful, and she was placed on the schedule for the program’s third surgical day. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

 

On patient announcement day, patients cleared for surgery and their family members wait to meet with medical volunteers who will explain how to prepare for their surgical procedure during the Future of Smiles medical mission’s five surgery days. Photo: Laura Gonzalez.

The story continues in “Scenes of Healing: Vijayawada Medical Mission.”

*Editor’s note: Operation Smile and the Inga Health Foundation are working to increase access to surgery in India that's safe, effective and timely. Through our partnership, we're conducting surgical programs in strategic locations, opening and sustaining surgical centers in various states, and engaging with key government stakeholders through "Future of Smiles" medical missions to promote statewide collaboration. Operation Smile hopes to establish a center of care that will provide patients with the highest quality of ongoing surgical care and treatment, as well as education opportunities for health workers by maximizing local and global partnerships that ensure the timely provision of funding, supplies and human resources.

MAKE A GIFT

It takes as little as $240 and as few as 45 minutes to provide life-changing surgery and a bright, beautiful new smile to a waiting child.