ReSurge International Blog

New Staff Member: Audrey Tucker

Please help us give a warm welcome to Audrey Tucker, the newest member of our staff!  Audrey comes to ReSurge with more than six years of nonprofit experience (including AmeriCorps service) and has worked with a variety of NGOs, from environmental groups to most recently a rape crisis center.  As the new development coordinator, Audrey will be primarily focused in planning ReSurge’s signature event—the Transformations Gala. A Northern California native, Audrey graduated from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo with a bachelor’s degree in English and French minor. A Francophile and traveler at heart, Audrey studied abroad in Paris, France and has travelled throughout Europe, Central America and Southeast Asia. We welcome Audrey to our ReSurge team and community.

A Rare Condition, a Unique Friendship

Piura, Peru - Michael Demian, ReSurge International associate director of foundations & corporate relations

Luis and Pablo were both born with a dark, disfiguring birthmarks across their faces. Despite living in distant towns in Peru, Luis and Pablo both grew up knowing all too well what it was like to be different.  Five years ago, while patiently waiting to be seen by ReSurge doctors, the two met and a beautiful friendship was born. 

After undergoing their first rounds of surgery, each boy returned home, but this time things were different. Not only was the mark across their face significantly smaller, they each knew they had the other for support.  Despite living four hours away from each other, Luis and Pablo have remained friends.  This year, ReSurge doctors removed what remained of their disfiguring birthmarks.  Afterwards, they each went back to their hometowns with new faces and a lifelong friend.

Anali

Piura, Peru: Ninteen-year-old Anali has lived her whole life with half a nose.  When Anali was an infant, she received surgery for her thyroid glands and required a feeding tube for her recovery.  Tragically, the feeding tube was not clean and gave her an infection that eventually caused the nasal tissues and skin to deterioate away.  Anali has had a tough time growing up with people constantly staring at her or calling her names. One thing is for sure:  Anali comes from a very loving family and has a very close relationship with her mother.  Her mother told one of the surgeons that her daughter had been waiting for surgery for 19 years and they were praying for the day when someone would help them.  Anali did receive her surgery and a new nose, which will only make her beautiful smile shine brighter.

Luzveida

 
Piura, Peru - Michael Demian, ReSurge International associate director of foundations & corporate relations

Fifteen-year-old Luzveida was born with a hemangioma covering the right side of her face. The doctor who treated her used a chemical to remove the lesions, which left her with burn scars, as well as paralyzed the right side of her face. Luzveida, who loves to smile and collect stickers, comes from a poor family 16 hours away from Piura. She is being raised by a single mother and her older brother. In tears, her mother told the team that Luzveida desperately wants this surgery as her Christmas present, so she can be beautiful and find a job to help her family. Luzveida received surgery to allow the nerves in her right cheek to react to the movement of a smile. Luzveida posed for many pictures with the volunteers and took some with her to share with her classmates and teacher.

Franco

Piura, Peru - Michael Demian, ReSurge International associate director of foundations & corporate relations

Franco is a shy and very kind 18-year-old who experienced a tragic accident several years ago.  One morning, when Franco was 11 years old, he left home to attend a parade in his hometown. In Peru, much like in the United States, whenever there is a parade, the streets are closed off to cars.  Unfortunately, on that day, a drunk driver did not obey the rules and proceeded to drive on the wrong side of the street as Franco was crossing it.  The driver ran into Franco and dragged him under the car for a long distance, breaking his facial bones and knocking out his front teeth in the process.  Franco’s scars were unimaginable.  He’s received multiple surgeries from ReSurge and returned to our team this year to receive an additional surgery to improve some of the scarring and skin tightness on his face.  

Seeking treatment after 30 years

Phan Rang, Vietnam - Tracey Davis, ReSurge International deputy director of development

Thirty-two-year-old Le told us that she fell when she was two years old and injured her upper lip. Her family was too poor to seek medical attention, so the wound festered and became infected. After that, Le was left with a permanent cleft-like scar.

Le comes from a very poor family. When she was eight years old, she left school to work on the family farm.  Le’s mother heard about ReSurge doctors offering free surgery, and, though she was too ill to accompany her daughter, she sent Le on a long journey to the hospital.  Thanks to the ReSurge doctors and nurses, Le’s future is brighter.  I can only imagine the look on her mother’s face when Le returned home with a new smile.

Arriving in Phan Rang, Vietnam

Phan Rang, Vietnam - Tracey Davis, ReSurge International deputy director of development

Our first day in Phan Rang was spent at the Hospital of Ninh Thuan Province, where we set up the surgical suite, recovery and post-op wards and screened patients. When the team arrived early Monday morning, close to 200 patients were waiting anxiously to see if they would be selected to receive surgery.   

For a child, a repaired cleft lip can mean finally attending school because he or she is no longer shunned for being different.  For a poor farmer who suffered a disabling burn, the release of a contracture can restore function and enable him to work again and provide for his entire family.  

From Hands to Hope

Photo by Darcy Padilla

Sara Anderson, ReSurge International chief communications officer

Hand surgery is among the most important reconstructive surgical procedures that can be offered in the developing world, as it renews one’s ability to provide for one’s self and family.  It is also the most prevalent burn surgery performed at ReSurge Surgical Outreach Centers; more than half of our burn patients seek treatment for their injured hands. 

Sarita, photo above, is 14 years old and lives in the southern shadows of Mt. Everest.  She fell into a fire pit at age 2.  This is her second ReSurge burn surgery; the first released her elbow contracture so that her arm could straighten.  (See “before” photo, right.)  

Facing five more skin grafts to repair her hand, her outlook remains positive, as she knows she is in the hands of an expert surgeon.  Her doctor is Dr. Kiran Nakarmi, Nepal’s only hand surgeon and director of ReSurge’s Surgical Outreach Center.

What Nakarmi does to repair disabled hands is amazing to see.  He carefully separates fingers and sets joints straight again, using skin flaps, skin grafts and pins like a master tailor cutting and sewing a patchwork quilt.  Most of the hands he sees need several operations to gain full functionality, but giving a child back just the use of a thumb and forefingers means he or she can grasp a spoon or a pencil. 

  Photo:  Dr. Nakarmi and Sarita, the day after surgery to repair her hand.  We hope to show you photos of her hand without the bandages soon.

 

Returning Home from Work

Photo by Darcy Padilla

Sara Anderson, ReSurge International chief communications officer

Every day, more than 600 Nepalese leave their homeland for work in the Middle East; at least one comes back dead daily and several other return injured, according to Dr. Shankar Man Rai.

We first saw the effects of this mass migration when we visited the construction site of a new hospital.  Many of the construction workers were women, which is unusual for Nepal.  One after another, young women placed dozens of bricks in baskets on their backs, then carried them across narrow planks through scaffolding, to bricklayers building the sides of the hospital.  (See photo above.)

We later saw several patients who received work-related injuries while working in Kuwait and other Gulf states. Once injured, most were immediately discharged from their jobs, sometimes not receiving full compensation for the time they did work, and then sent home to seek treatment. Workers’ compensation or other health benefits were rarely if ever provided.  Jobless and now somewhat disabled, these men had nowhere to turn.  Thankfully, our partner surgeons in Nepal are able to help repair their injuries for free, so that they may return to productive lives, in the workforce and providing for their families. 

The day I flew home from Nepal, December 18, marked the 20th anniversary of the adoption of the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Their Families (CMW).  However, from the few examples I saw, much more needs to be done to help prevent abuse and strengthen the rights of these workers.

For more information, the BBC and Human Rights Watch have reported on this issue extensively.