The screening trip this year included waiting room education, patient interviews, and lots of activities for the kids.
Drs. Tom Albert and Dana Smith worked tirelessly so that everyone who came had a surgical evaluation.
Together, they evaluated 100 patients!
Zoila Chacón, nutritionist at Hospital Belén, gave an incredibly informative and practical presentation with advice on feeding children with clefts. She shared insights on how to shop, how to prepare the food, and how much food a child needs at each stage of development.
Our Peruvian Patient Coordinator, Delia Delgado, collaborated with educators Mei-Ling Schwartz, Charles Brod and Pamela Jensen to conduct patient interviews. The goal of the interviews was to understand the obstacles families face when raising babies and children with clefts. Over the next several months, we will re-listen to these interviews to analyze patterns that could be helpful in further developing cleft education in Peru.
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Local hospital interns set up face painting for all of the children. -
The line for the face painting was just as long as the line to see the surgeons!
As in years past, the local Lions Clubs teamed up with members of Lions Clubs from the Pacific Northwest. All week long, they organized vision campaigns and distributed thousands of reading glasses donated by the Oregon Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation.
Anne Brod, a student from St. Mary’s Academy, joined the FACES team this year. Before flying to Chiclayo with all of us, Anne enlisted the support of friends and family, and raised over $4500 for FACES!
Throughout the week, Anne accompanied the local Lions Club members to remote areas of Lambayeque for vision campaigns. During patient evaluations, she engaged marvelously with the families in the waiting area.
We want to thank all of our Peruvian Colleagues for their support during this very busy trip and during the entire year. The members of the local Lions Clubs help identify patients and assist families in food and lodging. Staff from Hospital Regional and Hospital Belén prepare these children for their surgeries.