February has been a busy month at Interplast, with training and mentoring at the fore in seven countries, alongside reconstructive and plastic surgical programs.
Philippines
The month began with a team of seven volunteers leaving for Masbate, in the Philippines, where they spent two weeks performing 78 surgical procedures. Most of these were cleft lip and palate repairs for children under 15, or to reconstruct tissue damaged by burns.
Papua New Guinea
During the same period, a team of six volunteers visited Lae in Papua New Guinea, providing 33 consultations and 22 operations.
“It was a great and successful trip with a fantastic team. We are all very positive about what was achieved and the relationships that were built,” said surgeon Zac Moaveni.
More about the Lae trip will be published in the upcoming edition of Inside Interplast, which you will be able to find online here in the coming weeks.
Myanmar
A team comprising three surgeons, two anaesthetists, a theatre nurse and a nurse educator spent a busy week in Myanmar providing advanced surgical training and nurse education, and performing 11 life-changing operations.
However the program did not end there.
Senior nurse Maw Gyi from the Department of Plastic, Maxillofacial and Oral Surgery at the Yangon General Hospital accompanied the team back to Melbourne. Maw Gyi will spend six weeks on placement at the Dandenong and Alfred hospitals, supported by Interplast and supervised by our volunteers. Maw Gyi will be focusing on post-operative care of burns and microsurgery patients.
Laos
Another team delivered two weeks of hand therapy and surgery in Vientiane, Laos, returning on the last Saturday of the month. Two surgeons, two anaesthetists, three nurses and one hand therapist provided consultations and procedures, as well as mentoring to build the capacity of local professionals.
Solomon Islands
Three nurse educators headed off to the Solomon Islands to deliver training at the National Referral Hospital in Honiara as well as community education sessions about breast cancer detection and treatment. Volunteer Daisy Sargeant, who has been on 4 programs, said she was looking forward to catching up with Jackson, a former Interplast patient who now works at the hotel where our volunteers stay in Honiara.
Vanuatu-Australia
The training focus won’t be abating for March, as one of our local partners in Vanuatu, Dr Sam Kemuel, arrives for a three week training placement in Melbourne and Perth, supported by the Sir Benjamin Rank scholarship.
Sam will be spending time with a number of Interplast volunteers in Melbourne, before heading to Perth for a placement at the Royal Perth Hospital and some time at the Fiona Stanley Burns Hospital.
Mongolia
A small team has rugged up to face temperatures of -30 degrees Celsius in Mongolia, alongside our corporate partners Bright Blue – the Police Commissioner’s Fund for Sick Kids. They will perform a needs assessment for a surgical and training visit in Moron, then head to Ulaanbattar to meet local colleagues and finalise plans for a return burns mentoring visit in the coming months.
More places to go
We are so thankful to our amazing volunteers and local partners who make all of this happen. And it’s thanks to your ongoing support that they have been able to change futures all over the Asia Pacific region this month. Sadly, there is always more work to do. Please keep helping us by fundraising, donating or simply spreading the word about our work.
