Day One – Clinic Day (Monday, October 2)

126 patients and their families arrived at Victoria Hospital at 8:00 a.m. to be evaluated by the the surgeons, nurses, anesthesiologists and pediatricians for the cleft palate and cleft lip surgeries that will take place over the next 2 weeks.

Every family that signed up showed up. It was a hot steamy day and many of the families came for miles and waited in the heat throughout the day for their turn to be evaluated.

By mid-afternoon, the waiting children were beyond restless, hot, and hungry, and the small room was filled with the sound of babies crying.

The last patient was checked in at about 7:00 p.m., and the mission team ended the day.

Despite the long travel, and wait, not all of them are eligible for this surgery. There’s what’s called a ten-ten-ten rule of thumb…patients must be at least 10 pounds, at least 10 weeks old, and have a 10 hemoglobin count.

Out of the 126 children that need surgery, 84 are cleared for surgery. Some will be operated on the next mission but sadly, some did not qualify for surgery.