Lynn Hoyer, August 5th, 2010
The Miracle of Rotaplast
Photojournalist Jerry Meshulam of the Sebastopol Sunrise Club presented a heart rendering account of an expedition to Barquisimeto, Venezuela, to repair Cleft Lips and Cleft Palates. The volunteers of Rotary have traveled the world since 1992 and treated 13,473 patients to repair this common birth defect. It affects one in 700 children born each year in America.
Teams of doctors and Rotary volunteers make several missions each year to remote outposts around the world and in the span of ten days to two weeks treat dozens of youngsters and adults “Saving Smiles and Changing Lives.” A Cleft Palate is a hole in the roof of the mouth, making eating and drinking difficult. Corrective surgery is usually recommended at 18 to 24 months. But in remote areas, the doctors have been known to treat an adult and child from the same family.
Contributing factors are genetics, diet, environment or deficiencies in Folic Acid or Manganese. Recovery from the surgery generally occurs within days. The procedures may take 45 minutes to several hours. In addition to doctors on a mission, Rotarians volunteer as photojournalist, sterilizer, recreation therapist, medical records and recovery room assistant. The video that Meshulam prepared may be found on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYh6aVYEEIM. For more information or to inquire about participating in a future Rotaplast Mission check their web site at http://www.rotaplast.org/