Faces of Tomorrow

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2009 Mission

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Our first mission took place in Quito, Ecuador January 9-18, 2009.
With great humility we are thrilled to report that the mission was a huge success. Many lives were changed including every member of our team.

Here is a brief summary of our mission:

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Our team

We traveled to Ecuador with a team of 33 and added 4 Peace Corps workers stationed in Ecuador. Our team consisted of 5 surgeons, 4 anesthesiologists, 1 pediatric pulminologist, 1 speech pathologist, 1 orthodontist, 2 dentists, 12 nurses, 3 social workers, 3 administrators and 1 videographer.

We worked closely with the officials of Tierra Nueva Hospital to establish a culturally responsive atmosphere as well as to begin the process of hands on training with their medical professionals.

Patients waiting to be seen
Patients waiting to be screened

On January 11th- over a 100 patients were screened, some of whom had traveled as much as 16 hours to find care. Each patient was considered based on severity of condition and age. The triage included surgical review, pediatric evaluation, anesthesia evaluation, dental review and for the majority, a review by our speech pathologist. We then scheduled those who we would be able to help, for surgery over the next five days.

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Dr. Shih operating

January 12th-16th In all, we were able to help nearly 100 patients. We performed 16 cleft palate surgeries, 14 cleft lip surgeries, 11 lip revisions, 5 pharyngyoplasties, 5 palate fistula surgeries and 4 rhinoplasties. In addition, our dental team performed several procedures on another 30 patients, including extractions, fillings, and creation of obturators (molds for less serious palate cases). We also held education sessions for caretakers and families. Topics included, speech training, dental hygiene and post surgical care.

January 17th- The day was comprised of seeing all surgical patients and their families for discharge. We had all grown so attached to these wonderful people that this day turned out to be quite emotional. The doctors and the patients and their families alike shed many tears.

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Dr. Rubinstein in recovery with a young patient
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Our Speech Pathalogist, Rhona with Paola
Recovering after surgery
Recovering after
reconstructive surgery

Faces of Tomorrow In the Press

1. Dr. Sam Ahani with a young Ecuadorian patientIn early January Sam Ahani, DDS, boarded a plane for a life-changing trip which would take him to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador . Ahani, who co-founded Shore View Dental here in Pacifica with his wife, pediatric specialist Sepi

Read More: Healing Together: Dr. Sam Ahani Travels to Ecuador Fixing Smiles With 'Faces of Tomorrow'  
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Patient Stories

  • Lucio Parro

    Lucio post-op Lucio Parro is an active 7-year-old boy who just wanted to be like all the other kids in his village. He came to us with his mother and he had already put a lot of thought into his surgery and those who would help him.

    Read More: Lucio Parro  

  • Oscar's Story

    oscar16-year-old Oscar reinforced why we are doing mission work. Oscar was born with a cleft lip and a very large cleft palate. His lip was repaired when he was a baby. His mother told us that she had 6 children and her husband had passed away. She was very poor and having Oscar’s palate repaired was never an option.

    Read More: Oscar's Story  

  • Carmen's Story

    Patient stories: CarmenThirty-Nine year old Carmen Rivas touched the heart of every member of our team. Carmen had spent her entire life hiding because of her cleft lip.

    Read More: Carmen's Story