Belize: A Little Trip, A Lot Of Action
A LEAP team traveled to Belize for a weekend in April with 4 cohorts of surgeons. Though the trip was short, the team was able to accomplish a great deal due to the range and diversity of its members. Regarding the April Belize trip, Colburn explicated that there was just much to do, they actually went back in August to perform three first stage ear reconstructions and one second stage reconstruction on kids the team didn’t have the time to operate on during the first go round. Zimbabwe: A Story of Persistence
There are many ways to describe putting your heart into what you do. Legendary runner Steve Prefontaine put it this way: “To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift.” Sherry Colburn, LEAP Missions Director, puts it another: “It has taken us two years to finally get this trip up and going.” It all started when Colburn and Dr. Amanda Gosman, plastic surgeon, traveled to Harare, Zimbabwe in 2008 right before the government election that year to try to secure work permits for a potential LEAP team. They spent 10 days traveling through the country and speaking with officials, hospitals, and authorities. To her surprise, just as hopes were high of returning with a team, Colburn was told of the government’s decision to deny entrance and work permits into the country. Though it wasn’t the news they wanted to hear, the time they spent there was formative in the development of a relationship between LEAP and Zimbabwe. And because “to give anything less than your best, is to sacrifice the gift,” the goal of going to Zimbabwe could not be easily dropped or forgotten. Instead, LEAP continued to work toward making the Zimbabwe trip a reality. Colburn traveled again to Harare, this time with surgeon Dr. Ale Mitchell in July 2009. And this time something finally sunk in about LEAP. It might have been the persistence, but it also might have been that two LEAP surgeons, Dr. Gosman and Dr. Mitchell, on two separate, subsequent trips to Zimbabwe, bungee jumped from incredible heights.
After another 7 months of trying to gain clearance and permits to enter and work in Zimbabwe the LEAP team is scheduled to leave next week, October 22 with a scheduled return of part of the team on November 1st and the rest on November 4th.
The team will be working with The University of Zimbabwe Surgical Department and with Celebration Health at Harare Children's Hospital in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare. LEAP Operates In The U.S. ALENA’S STORY
Akimova Alena Mikhailovna, pronounced “Alone-a,” was born in Russia on February 29, 2004 with a rare craniofacial cleft and hypertelorism. She has lived her entire life in an orphanage, until this summer, when she came to the U.S. for surgery. Her story is a series of intertwined sequences that spans generations and points to a God who cares for people who are sometimes forgotten by the rest of the world. Her story is connected to another story, the story of Alexandra Goode. Alexandra spent her childhood in Yugoslovia. She lost her mother to tuberculosis at age 3 in 1932. She saw her father, a soldier, for the last time on the eve of WWII in 1940, just as he left her to return to boarding school at the train station in Sarajevo. Because she had no way to contact her father and no where to go home to, she was sent to an orphanage when Sarajevo fell. Later, she was placed in Dachau concentration camp. During WWII she experienced so much darkness over time that she began to pray to God that if he loved her, to let her die. In the words of Caroline Hornok, Alexandra’s granddaughter, “Alexandra asked for physical death and instead was given spiritual life...her hate-filled heart was satiated with love.” And today she uses her life for something she could not have imagined at the time. Alexandra and her husband George Goode of International Guardian Angels Outreach headquartered in Keller, TX are responsible for bringing Alena here and connecting her to LEAP. When Alexandra first contacted LEAP, it was only the beginning. Sherry Colburn, Missions Director, spent over a year working with the Russian Embassy on a medical visa before Alena was allowed to come to the U.S. Due to the complexity of her surgical procedure, it was necessary for Alena to travel here. When Alena finally arrived she was greeted by her loving host family, Katherine and Jim Berend and their children. Now only months later, she is recovering from her first surgery, which was Tuesday, Oct 6th. She is eating ice cream as she heals. Dr. Craig Hobar, Dr. Ale Mitchell, Dr. Fred Sklar, Dr. Doug Sinn, and fellow Dr. CJ Langevin, performed the complex surgery, and Dr. Mary Harris was the anesthesiologist. They operated for 12 hours.
MASON’S STORY
Sergey Akifiev, now Mason Wolfe, was adopted by Monty and Melisa Wolfe. He like Alena, was also brought here by Alexandra and George Goode's International Guardian Angels Outreach. Sherry Colburn started the process of applying for his medical visa in May of 2007. When Mason came to the U.S. he weighed only 8 lbs. at 9 months of age. The Wolfes took Mason in wholeheartedly as their son and their love allowed him to continue to develop to a healthy size. Mason had his first surgery on April 21, 2008.
SENIA’S STORY
Senia Pqustina was born in Honduras on December 10, 2004. Both of her parents were HIV positive, and her mother, realizing that Senia could receive medical attention in the U.S., allowed for her to come here for surgical care. Senia was later adopted by Ana and Alan England. After her referral to LEAP by Dr. Tom Brian, Sherry Colburn started Senia’s visa process in July of 2005. Her first surgery was at Our Childrens House at Baylor Hospital on May19, 2007. Senia pre- and post-surgery.
A LITTLE BOY FROM CHINA'S STORY
A little boy from China that is coming in November to undergo surgery. RAMSWOOD’S STORY LEAP has been on over 70 trips, and operated on over 3,000 people. Everyone of them has a unique story. We invite you to read those stories at www.leap-foundation.org. This month we are featuring the story of Ramswood, a little boy from India born with a complex cleft lip and palate. | Belize Team 2009
Hand Cohort
Dr. Mike Dolan
Plastics Cohort
Dr. Craig Hobar
Dr. Ale Mitchell
Attending Surgeons
Dr. Jerome Liu
Dr. Tripp Parker
Eye Cohort
Dr. Grant Gilliland
Prosthetics Cohort
Randy Trawnik
John Trawnik
Anesthesia
Dr. Bruce Fitzgerald
Dr. John Thorne
Dr. Tommy Spain
Dr. Ann Marie Ernst
Brigitte Willis, RRT
Katherine Boatright, RRT
OR Nursing
Michelle Dang, RN
Carry Christensen, CRNFA
Karen Smith, RN
Mary Beth Lance, RN
Jana Wise, RN
Cindy Lang, CST
Recovery Nursing
Robyn Fitzgerald, RN
Michele Drucker, RN
Gloria Brown, RN
Leesa Thompson, RN
Photography
Heather Thorne
Support
Andrea Scullion
Michelle
Mission Director
Sherry Colburn Zimbabwe Team 2009
Plastics Cohort
Dr. Craig Hobar
Dr. Ale Mitchell
Anesthesia
Darlene Kiskin, CRNA
Dr. Nancy France
Dr. Jesse Dadson
Dr. Chris Meggyesy
Phil Douglas, RRT
OR Nursing
Jackie Reed, RN
Sandra Sataray, CST
Michelle Dang, RN
Gay Smith, CST
Recovery Nursing
Leesa Thompson, RN
Polly Hall, RN
Anu Samuel, RN
Photographer
Robin Hobar
Mission Director
Sherry Colburn
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