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• The first off-pump open heart surgery was performed by the Morocco mission team
• Our Burn Consortium partner inaugurated a new burn clinic in El Salvador
• Our Walking Free Philippines Director, Dr. Josephine Bundoc, was asked by the WHO to speak about the challenge of meeting the needs of amputees in developing countries at the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) conference in Germany
• Julie Philips, MPH, presented her evaluation of the Walking Free program at the ISPO conference as well

• Within a relatively short time, we were able to triple the number of trained pediatricians in the country;
• We developed a successful model of partnering with academic institutions, both in the United States and outside of the country, which can be replicated;
• We were able to introduce many new medical volunteers to the Physicians for Peace model of education and training to build sustainable health care systems;
• Rather than being only a one-way transfer of knowledge, US and Eritrean medical professionals developed an ongoing exchange of experience and ideas;
• Through millions of dollars of donated medical supplies and equipment, we have had an additional significant impact on the ability of Eritrea to meet the health care needs of its citizens.

Shortly after the earthquake ripped open the heart of Haiti, Physicians for Peace responded with a fundraising drive to support its two partners in Haiti, both of which were reduced to rubble. This week, Physicians of Peace sent checks of almost $27,000 each directly to Healing Hands for Haiti and St. Vincent's School for Handicapped. These funds represented the donations collected by Physicians for Peace in the direct aftermath of the earthquake and were intended for immediate relief operations in Haiti.

Prior to the devastating earthquake, there were an estimated 800,000 disabled people in Haiti. This population was disproportionately underserved and in many cases, shunned as outcasts. To meet the needs of Haiti’s disabled, Physicians for Peace, a Norfolk, VA-based nonprofit that provides medical training for health care providers in the developing world, began working in Haiti in 2005 as part of its Walking Free program—one of a very limited number of agencies with a sustainable track record in Haiti working with amputees. 

Physicians for Peace has now strategically shifted its focus from the initial relief operations to the long term rebuilding effort in support of Haiti's disabled population. All cash and material donations will be used as part of Physicians for Peace’s Walking Free program in Haitito organize, train and supply prosthetic and orthotic production and training facilities.

Walking Free—An Initiative of Hope for Haiti’s Disabled   

Amputee and celebrity Heather Mills publicly launched the campaign on Larry King Live. Physicians for Peace also enlisted the aid of Hanger Orthotics and Prosthetics, the nation’s largest manufacturer, to use its 670+ sites across the nation as collection points. Dozens of cities, agencies and companies are now sponsoring local drives and Physicians for Peace has become the “go to” agency to donate desperately needed mobility equipment. Our 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse is now overflowing, and we have partnered with Arpin Van Linesand  Hampton Roads Moving and Storage for additional storage capacity. These items will be shipped via container to Haiti over the coming weeks.

Physicians for Peace has formed two coalitions to ensure that amputee victims of the earthquake will soon walk again and play an active role in Haiti’s recovery. The first alliance is the Hispaniola Prosthetics and Orthotics Education Coalition with Healing Hands for Haiti and the International Society of Prosthetics and Orthotics-US. Healing Hands for Haiti has been  our long-term partner in the devastated capital city Port-au-Prince and is settin up temporary (and eventually, permanent) work space in the city and will soon be  able to begin prosthetic production. There are vital equipment, medical supplies and professional medical volunteers we need to send. With your generous donations, we can mobilize these efforts quickly.

Second, recognizing that considerable activity is focused in the capital city, Physicians for Peace has joined Hanger Orthopedic Group, Inc., Shepherd Spinal Center, and the Harold & Kayrita Anderson Family Foundation to launch the “Haitian Amputee Coalition” to support the central plateau region. This coalition is creating a long-term prosthetic production center at Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, an undamaged local hospital 60 miles from Port-au-Prince. 

You can help Haiti’s disabled.

Your monetary donations will help restore the production, training and rehabilitation infrastructure for Haiti’s disabled and will give Physicians for Peace the leverage to adequately organize, train and supply our Walking Free program.

 Thank you for all you have already done for the people in Haiti and for supporting our work.

We couldn’t go to Saulawa for clinic today because the ambulance driver was no where to be found and no one knew where the keys to the vehicle were. I was resting from our first delivery, when Banke woke me around noon and said we had another woman in labor.

Her name was also Maryam.  She is 20 years old and this is her 5^th pregnancy. It seems she only has one living child, and we never did find out what the circumstances were of the deaths of the other 3.  She has a 4 year old daughter.

She was dilated 5 cm and Dr. Ojo said her bag of waters had ruptured 2 hours earlier. We started monitoring her contractions and the baby’s heartbeat every 30 minutes. We are committed to being more diligent with the partograph. It was decided that we will have Banke “catch” this baby. Maryam was on the bed. The contractions were only 2 in 10 minutes, so we decided to walk a bit. These women make very little noise during the labor. I would occasionally see a grimace, or more likely I would see her just bend over when she got a contraction. Around 4 we checked her progress - only 8 cm. She is going slower than we expected. Dr Ojo decided to go play some soccer.  We told him to be sure to be back before dark to start up the generator so we could have some light.

We just hung out walking with Maryam, setting up our equipment and patiently waiting. At around 8, we checked her again - only 9 cm. Hmm, time to consider a plan. Baby’s heartbeat was beautiful. We felt Mom might be anxious, so we would be patient. (And still no driver or vehicle keys) Around 10, I noticed Maryam had some vaginal bleeding - a little more than we normally see. Baby looked great, but she really wasn’t pushing effectively. As the head moved down, Banke assumed the  “Catcher’s” position. She did a beautiful job! At 10:35 pm, a beautiful baby boy was born. No lacerations, either. He was a nice 3.5 Kg (7 ½ pounds). I took him and did the ‘baby stuff’ while Dr. Ojo and Banke took care of Mom. The placenta delivered intact 10 minutes later. 

Around 11, Banke was cleaning instruments, Dr. Ojo was in the hall chatting with family, and I went to check the Mom. She was lying in a pool of blood. She was starting to go unconscious. We put in an IV, gave her 10 Units of Pitocin in 500 cc of IV fluid rapidly to contract the uterus and drained her bladder with a catheter. So glad the class this week was on Post Partum Hemorrhage. We responded quickly without wasting any time. Mom’s pulse and blood pressure stayed normal. We put the baby to breast, elevated Mom’s legs and continued to monitor closely. The uterus firmed up for a short time, but the bleeding continued. We decided to give another drug - Misoprostel to firm up the uterus. This worked very nicely.  We reexamined the cervix and birth canal for any tears that might have been missed. None.

By around 2:30 things had calmed down. Maryam’s pulse and blood pressure remained stable and the bleeding had become normal. In all, we estimated she lost a little over a liter of blood.  Everyone was exhausted. I told the others to go to bed for a couple of hours and I would stay up. The generator ran out of fuel at 4:17 am. So my checks were done by lantern light.  The baby nursed again.  Maryam was resting comfortably.

Dr. Ojo relieved me at 6. When I went back to check on them at 8, Maryam had gotten up to go to relieve herself and had eaten some food.  She is pale and will be on iron supplements for a while.  God was definitely with us. We have no doubt if she would have stayed home to deliver, she would not be alive today.  We are hoping that this will encourage more women to come to the clinic to deliver.

That is the story of Pampaida ‘s second delivery! The training prepared us for this emergency. We are reminded to always be alert and ready to respond in a systematic, calm manner.

I have claimed this little boy as my African grandson. I will post pictures when I get back home. 

That’s all for now.  I need sleep!

Blessings!

Robin

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Robin Jones, Registered Nurse and Women's Health Care Nurse Practitioner, has been writing about her experiences in the Millennium Village of Pampaida in Zaria Nigeria. If you would like to make a donation to help mothers in poverty and support volunteers like Robin on our medical missions in Africa, visit our web site at www.physiciansforpeace.org. 

The Physicians for Peace Walking Free team walked and waded through the aftermath of the typhoon to provide relief goods, medical, surgical and disability assistance to the amputees and wheelchair borne community of Tahanang Walang Hagdanan (House without steps) on October 2, 2009.

Truly inspiring indeed is the fact that we were met with warm, happy  and  hopeful faces with only their wounds and broken prosthesis giving us a clue to the damages brought upon them by Typhoon Ondoy! As one of the survivors told us, "We survived it through faith and mind over matter."

Since President Arroyo was expected to arrive at 1 pm, we had to finish the mission before noon for security purposes. Within the time constraints, the Physicians for Peace Amputee Support Group was able to distribute 100 packages of toiletries and food, clean and dress 20 wounds, provide medical consults and medications  to 75 families and screen 28 amputees.

On that day, we also turned over a donation of 10,000 pesos by HaoChin Chua Foundation and 20,000 pesos raised by the Physicians for Peace Amputee Support group for the rehabilitation of their dormitories, homes, and workplace which were neck deep in water.

We returned Oct 19 to measure the amputees for new prosthesis --- fulfilling a promise we made when we had to leave early last Oct 2 as we were pressed to leave the premises.

We will again go back in November to deliver their finished prosthesis so they can regain independent mobility and  facilitate their immediate return to work and productivity!

On behalf of the beneficiaries, we express our appreciation for your unwavering support!

You can support our relief efforts and medical missions in the Philippines - Donate medical equipment or donate medical supplies to our Gifts in Kind Program, or make a monthly gift by becoming a Partner for Peace... To find out the many ways you can contribute to our medical volunteer work, visit http://www.physiciansforpeace.org/ways-to-give.html 

Upon arrival we were met by Mr. Pepito D. Villanueva, Manager, Special Concerns Office.  “Pep” was a gracious host, and it is obvious that he has a passion for this project. It is through his hard work that he has been able to take very few resources and make this project work. I was extremely happy that I was able to give him a handful of prosthetic knees that I had taken on the flight from our headquarters in Norfolk. These knees will help complete several more above knee prostheses.

As we toured the facility, it was evident that it was being run in a very professional and efficient manner. There were rooms set aside for manufacturing the limbs, physical therapy, and training.   The result of everyone’s hard work over the last couple of years was clearly evident.  In a span of less than 2 years, a total of 128 patients have receive prosthetic limbs. The patients that were treated lived in 21 different localities.

We were introduced later to Mr. Benigno Ricafort, the President of the Clark Development Corporation. Mr. Ricafort was very enthusiastic about the work that we are doing to help amputees and indicated that he would continue to support our work there.

A real indicator of just how much of an impact we have made in the Pampanga area is the fact that people that live far outside the general area come to the clinic to see if they can receive help.

Mr. Villanueva provided me with additional information as to the types of items that would be helpful. I told him that we will continue to ship containers full of prosthetic limbs, walkers, canes, crutches, and wheelchairs in an effort to support our friends in Pampanga and help them walk again and live a full life.

It is almost 1:00 A.M. Oh by the way it looks like there will be more massive flooding. We are supposed to be hit by more bad weather this weekend. Let’s just hope and pray that somehow it passes us by.
 

You can join Ken in supporting our medical missions in the Philippines - Donate medical equipment or donate medical supplies to our Gifts in Kind Program, or make a monthly gift by becoming a Partner for Peace... To find out the many ways you can support our medical volunteer work, visit http://www.physiciansforpeace.org/ways-to-give.html 

Dr. Montero and Lyne are arranging for us to help with the relief efforts in Manila in the time that was allotted for the first mission. Ken did a great job of summarizing our tours of Walking Free and PGH today. My father also had never seen anything like what he saw today. As a Board Member of Duke University Hospital, he had been exposed to a lot of first world medicine but had never truly seen what the have-nots in the world must face when trying to care for themselves and their families. He was truly affected by what he witnessed and will share his experiences with many others. For me, witnessing first-hand these heartbreaking scenes never fails to put things in perspective, energizing me to give more of my future time and resources to help others. After visiting the hot, chaotic & overcrowded pediatric ER, my father and I agreed that had his 2 month prematurely born granddaughter McKenzie been born in such a place, she would probably not be alive today.  

While there is so much work to be done in that hospital, the shining star of what we saw was the Physicians for Peace Walking Free Program. The last time I visited it several year ago, all that existed was a concept, a room filled with boxes, very little equipment, and very few patients being served. Fortunately, Dr. Montero, Penny Bundoc & Lyne Abanilla have relentlessly worked to make this program a huge success. Prostheses were being formed while some patients were being fitted and others were "Walking Free". We heard first hand stories from these patients and staff who have been made whole again by Physicians for Peace.  

Even though our team is delayed in the hands-on work we will perform, the Good Lord always has a plan.  Today was a chance to see the overall picture firsthand. It was an opportunity to see how much has been done but how much more we can do. We all sat down for a quiet lunch afterward and had great discussions and brainstorming about how we can best help these most deserving Filipinos in the future. Although some ideas may be dreams, Penny told me that she did not think the dream of "Walking Free - Philippines" would be where it is now when we had similar discussions in 2004. With hard the continued hard work of Physicians for Peace's staff and volunteers, dreams do come true!!!

We look forward to updating you soon about "Seeing Clearly" missions 2 and 3 which are still on schedule.

God Bless You All,

John Knight
 

"I was excited to be on my first mission since joining Physicians for Peace in May 2005, and looking forward to participating in a medical mission trip to the Philippines. 

Doctor Montero arrived to pick up John Knight, John Knight’s dad, Henry, and myself and then we were off to meet Penny and Pipo Bundoc and Lyne Abanilla at Philippine General Hospital for a guided tour.

While I cannot do justice to what I saw with words or pictures I will do my best to provide an overall sense of what is being accomplished there.

The main focus of the tour was the prosthetics clinic where the bulk of the work for the “Walking Free” program in Manila takes place.  While Penny and Pipo gave me an education as to their primary needs in the shop they also took the time to introduce some of their patients. 

I met  Lea Redreno, who suffers from congenital deformities on every limb.  Lea is working at the “Walking Free” clinic, helping maintain it’s inventory and organization. Lea has a beautiful smile and a great personality even though she has suffered from many personal hardships.

Then I had the pleasure of meeting Herbert Renuda, who at the young age of 15 was being fitted for an above the knee prosthesis at the hip. While being fitted, Herbert displayed maturity beyond his years.

Then I met several young amputees that also had appointments at the clinic who all had positive attitudes and big smiles for everyone they met.

This is proof once again that the Physicians for Peace team and our great volunteers such as Doctor Montero and Lyne Abanilla continue to do great work.

After visiting the “Walking Free” area, Penny and Pipo decided to give us a tour through the rest of the hospital. 

What I saw was something that I have never witnessed. I saw a hospital that is bursting at the seams. Wherever I went there were extremely long lines of sick people waiting for help.  As soon as you walked into the main screening area you could see that the system was overwhelmed. 

One of the scenes was of a woman leaning over her mother who was laying on a cot in pain.  She was busily trying to use a paper fan to try to cool her while her tears were falling as she wondered what illness she was suffering from. I came upon another family that was trying to comfort a young girl that they had barely saved from slipping into a coma. Her supply of insulin had run out, and they were not able to get to Manila in time because of the recent flooding and landslides that had been caused by Typhoons Ondong and Ppepeng. The young physician in training assured me that her patient would probably recover, but that she had suffered a great deal.

Particularly troublesome were the number of very young children that I saw that were waiting for treatment. It is hard to say how many there were but virtually all available space was occupied.  The illnesses of these children could range from the common cold to more serious illnesses. 

Through all of this, the hard working and dedicated medical professionals like Penny and Pipo and our great volunteers Doctor Montero and Lyne Abanilla impressed me with their great attitudes and their hard work. This is the one piece of the thread that keeps things running at this hospital.

Additionally what was perhaps the most inspiring part of what I saw was to witness the strength and courage of the families that stood watch over their loved ones while waiting for help without a single complaint. I will never forget what I saw today, and this experience makes me want to do everything that I can to help the people of the Philippines."

You can join Ken in supporting our medical missions in the Philippines - Donate medical equipment or donate medical supplies to our Gifts in Kind Program, or make a monthly gift by becoming a Partner for Peace... To find out the many ways you can support our medical volunteer work, visit http://www.physiciansforpeace.org/ways-to-give.html 

"The Cambodia School of Prosthetics and Orthotics ( CSPO ) has granted the Philippine Walking Free technicians two (2) full scholarships for its 3 year P & O Category 2 course. Their scholarship covers their $12,000/year tuition fee for 3 years, free board and lodging, allowance, and health insurance. Philippine Airlines has been kind enough to sponsor their roundtrip fares to and from Manila.

The 2 technicians are Edgar Bellosillo and Desiderio Gapasin. Edgar has been the PGH technician (initially for Jaipur and then Physicians for Peace) since 2005... Desiderio is a hip disarticulation prosthesis user who has been a P & O technician since 1990 and is our technician at the Clark Prosthesis Laboratory and Training CEnter.

They are scheduled to leave October 28 for Cambodia and we are truly wishing them all the best in their schooling. May we reap the fruits of their efforts in the P & O school we are trying to establish!"

Congratulations to Edgar and Desiderio, and to all the Walking Free Philippines team for their hard work in continuing to improve care for amputees. If you would like to find out more about our medical missions in the Philippines and other international health programs, visit our web site at www.physiciansforpeace.org.

You can also donate medical equipment or prosthetic devices to the Walking Free Program or make a medical donation to support international health education - Your support changes lives!


Desi at work in the clinic.



Edgar (right) with a patient.

Dr. Chris Walters, who specializes in podiatric medicine, is a long time Physicians for Peace volunteer, leading missions to Eritrea since 2004.  Dr. Walters has been the primary fundraiser, collecting over $1 million dollars in original retail value of in-kind donations of orthopedic equipment.  Dr. Walters has also pioneered new surgical techniques for limb reconstruction of severe deformities which are not seen, well-understood, nor treated in the US.  These novel techniques, which are safe, reproducible, and sustainable in the developing world are soon to be published for educational purposes for dissemination to other developing nations.

Dr. Keith Goss, who works closely with Dr. Walters on surgery missions, accepted the award for him at the Gala. (below)


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Health Professional (Non-physician) Category - Gil Mejia, C.P.

Gilberto Mejia, a certified prosthetist, has guided the prosthetists in Dominican Republic towards higher standards of care, embodying the Physicians for Peace philosophy.  When Gil first started providing training the clinic in Dominican Republic was making as few as 7 prosthesis a week, and not making them very well.  Seven years later, the same clinic has a robust staff, is known for their quality of service, and is a self sustaining operation that makes over 30 prosthesis a week.



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Mission Support Category - John Knight, M.P.H.

John Knight has worked with Physicians for Peace for many years and is the founder and champion of the Seeing Clearly Program, one of the many sustainable programs in the Philippines.  The program, first launched in the Philippines, has been a huge success due to John’s leadership and hard work and is now being replicated in Haiti and other countries around the world.  In addition, Mr. Knight serves on the Physicians for Peace Medical Operations Committee and has gone on five PFP missions to the Philippines with his sixth mission scheduled for this October.

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Dr. Josephine Bundoc (left) participates in the first national prosthesis Walkathon in Manila.

Recycling prosthetics helps amputees in developing countries get the care they need. The Walking Free program has partnered with Hangar Prosthetics and Orthotics, At Home Care, Nauticus, and Old Dominion University to sponsor a limb drive this Sunday from 12pm - 2pm at Harbour Park in Norfolk, Virginia at the Tides baseball game. The limbs and braces collected will be broken down and shipped worldwide to support Walking Free volunteer medical missions. 

Bring a prosthetic donation and get free admission to the Tides game!

For more information, download the event flyer here.

If you would like to donate medical equipment or prosthetics, before or after the event please visit our web site at 

www.physiciansforpeace.org/gifts-in-kind.html

To learn more about the Walking Free program and its mission to provide care to amputees in the world's poorest countries, visit our web site at www.physiciansforpeace.org/walkingfree.html