Healing the Children Mission to Colombia 2011
Jean-Paul Azzi, MD, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary In October 2011, 28 volunteers from Healing the Children and I flew from JFK to Bogota, Colombia, on our way to Hospital Universitario Fernando Troconis, Santa Marta on the northern coast. The group included Academy members Manoj T. Abraham, MD, Jean-Paul Azzi, MD, Andrew A. Jacono, MD, Arthur W. Menken, MD, Augustine L. Moscatello, MD, and Evan Ransom, MD. On the flight, the veterans briefed us on OR assignments, cleft repair techniques, and tips on how to make the most of our experience. Upon arrival the ladies of “UNIMA,” a Colombian charity that cosponsors our mission annually, greeted us. The team included administrators, technicians, nurses, pediatricians, anesthesiologists, and surgeons. Dr. Abraham, a facial plastic surgeon from Poughkeepsie, NY, led the surgical team, which included a second facial plastic surgeon, two otolaryngologists, a facial plastic surgery fellow, and a senior otolaryngology resident. On Sunday, we evaluated 125 patients, of whom 70 were scheduled to have surgery over the next five days. Ages ranged from four weeks old to young adulthood, with most requiring either revision or repair of cleft lips and palates. Many of these children and their families traveled several hours over difficult terrain. Some traveled by foot or by donkey over days, and, after reaching Santa Marta, slept in the hospital’s crowded quarters waiting for their scheduled surgery. Healing the Children, with its goal of organizing humanitarian medical missions to perform surgeries on needy children around the globe, has made a lasting impact on the vulnerable and impoverished throughout the world. I feel fortunate to have contributed. We helped so many grateful families in such a short period. I take with me vivid memories of a mother’s joyful tears when first seeing her child after cleft lip repair. I know I speak for the entire team when I say we will continue to do everything we can to heal the children worldwide.
Jean-Paul Azzi, MD, New York Eye and Ear Infirmary

In October 2011, 28 volunteers from Healing the Children and I flew from JFK to Bogota, Colombia, on our way to Hospital Universitario Fernando Troconis, Santa Marta on the northern coast. The group included Academy members Manoj T. Abraham, MD, Jean-Paul Azzi, MD, Andrew A. Jacono, MD, Arthur W. Menken, MD, Augustine L. Moscatello, MD, and Evan Ransom, MD.
On the flight, the veterans briefed us on OR assignments, cleft repair techniques, and tips on how to make the most of our experience. Upon arrival the ladies of “UNIMA,” a Colombian charity that cosponsors our mission annually, greeted us.
The team included administrators, technicians, nurses, pediatricians, anesthesiologists, and surgeons. Dr. Abraham, a facial plastic surgeon from Poughkeepsie, NY, led the surgical team, which included a second facial plastic surgeon, two otolaryngologists, a facial plastic surgery fellow, and a senior otolaryngology resident.

On Sunday, we evaluated 125 patients, of whom 70 were scheduled to have surgery over the next five days. Ages ranged from four weeks old to young adulthood, with most requiring either revision or repair of cleft lips and palates. Many of these children and their families traveled several hours over difficult terrain. Some traveled by foot or by donkey over days, and, after reaching Santa Marta, slept in the hospital’s crowded quarters waiting for their scheduled surgery.
Healing the Children, with its goal of organizing humanitarian medical missions to perform surgeries on needy children around the globe, has made a lasting impact on the vulnerable and impoverished throughout the world. I feel fortunate to have contributed.
We helped so many grateful families in such a short period. I take with me vivid memories of a mother’s joyful tears when first seeing her child after cleft lip repair. I know I speak for the entire team when I say we will continue to do everything we can to heal the children worldwide.