Guatemala Medical Mission

Dr. Ruffin (left) at the APROQUEN Burn Unit in Nicaragua.

Vivian Pellas, burn survivor and founder of the Association for the
Burned Children of Nicaragua.

In recognition of its 20th anniversary, Physicians for Peace is honoring 20 Health Care Heroes in 2009, individuals who embody the organization's mission and goals to teach, heal, and empower both patients and caregivers. The Physicians for Peace Burn Care Program is a true success story in changing lives and building health care capacity for countries in need. We would like to honor Dr. Willcox Ruffin and Ms. Vivian Pellas as 20th Anniversary Care Heroes for their roles in the creation of this program which has helped so many individuals heal from the trauma of burn injury.  

The Burn Care Program was conceived when Physicians for Peace founder Dr. Charles E. Horton, Sr. visited Nicaragua in 1992.  Based on the medical education needs he identified, a team of plastic surgeons, including Dr. Willcox Ruffin, traveled to Managua and Leon in 1994. Dr. Ruffin, a devoted plastic surgeon, has served as Associate Professor of Plastic Surgery at Eastern Virginia Medical School, Chief of Plastic Surgery at Sentara Hospitals, Chief of Plastic Surgery at the Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters, and Director of the Burn Unit at Norfolk General Hospital. He has helped countless patients through his work with Physicians for Peace, and now retired from medical practice, serves on its Board of Trustees.

His purpose on that first mission to Managua was to advance medical expertise in the management of burn care, and to upgrade patient care within a burn unit built by the founder of Asociación Pro-Niños Quemados de Nicaragua (APROQUEN), Ms. Vivian Pellas. Vivian, a burn survivor herself, has devoted her life to improving the quality of care for burn victims in Nicaragua. The facility Vivian Pellas has helped to build, with the knowledge and support of plastic surgeons like Dr. Ruffin, has been able to treat tens of thousands of patients in need. With partners like Vivian, Physicians for Peace has been able to help burn clinics in other Central American countries provide better care and prevention for burns. 

 

The Burn Care Program has continued to grow and expand to include not only training and education, but the establishment of an international burn consortium. APROQUEN is now one of 19 equal partner organizations that comprise the Asociación Centroamericana y del Caribe de Quemaduras (Central American and Caribbean Burn Association) in six countries (Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.) This Association was formed in 2006 by Physicians for Peace and is dedicated to advancing pediatric burn care in Central America and the Caribbean through training, knowledge exchange, and global collaboration.

You can ensure that this program, started with the compassion and cooperation of Dr. Ruffin and Vivian Pellas, continues to help third world countries treat and prevent burn injuries and help burn victims heal. By contributing to our volunteer medical missions and international health programs, you help bring healing to a suffering world. 

Make your donation today!

 

David A. Lawrence, M.S.P.T., A.T.C., an internationally renowned physical therapist and amputee specialist, is being honored by Physicians for Peace as a Health Care Hero for his medical volunteer work with Walking Free, an international program he co-founded in 2000 to help amputees abroad. 

 

David is President of Lawrence Rehabilitation Specialists Inc. which manages the LRS Gait Center Richmond, Gait Center Hampton Roads, and the Country Club of Virginia Manual Therapy Center.  He is also Program Director for the Stepping Back to Life Project, AT Home Care Inc.

Throughout much of the world, amputee victims of land mines, earthquakes, motor vehicle accidents, industrial and agricultural accidents, birth defects, disease, and war receive little or no medical treatment. The Physicians for Peace Walking Free Program was designed to help third world countries meet the needs of amputees. Following the first initiative in Diyarbakir, Turkey in 2000, Physicians for Peace brought the Walking Free program to Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2001 and has since expanded it to Port-au-Prince, Haiti; Manila, Philippines; and Guatemala City, Guatemala. The Walking Free Program has helped more than ten thousand patients with prosthetic and orthotic needs and has provided more than $2 million in prosthetic and orthotic in-kind contributions including rehabilitation and surgical supplies and equipment.

 

David Lawrence's contributions to Walking Free have been invaluable. He has helped Physicians for Peace establish prosthetic and rehabilitation centers in developing nations worldwide, implementing a strategy that gets volunteers actively involved with prosthetic and physical therapy training for 4-5 years.  “We are empowering the therapists and prosthetists abroad with the skills to be independent.  Success is complete when the clinics are able to not only operate on their own, but to expand their business and patient care,” emphasizes Lawrence. He continues to work tirelessly to help those in need, and his passion for the mission of Walking Free is an inspiration to all.

 
Today is also David's birthday, so from all of us at Physicians for Peace, THANK YOU DAVID AND HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

 

To make a contribution to Physicians for Peace in honor of David Lawrence, click here. 

To find out more about Walking Free and other international health programs, visit our web site at www.physiciansforpeace.org

Susan Palmer, Director of Global Health Programs and Volunteer Development for Physicians for Peace, continues her report from the Burn Consortium Annual meeting taking place this week in Costa Rica:

We started off the day with a video welcome by Ron Sconyers, president and CEO of Physicians for Peace, who was unable to attend in person, which was translated by Dr. Ramon Lopez. Then Dr. Ramon Lopez, as the Director of the Americas from Physicians for Peace, welcomed everyone back, saying PFP looks forward to working with them all in the future, and emphized the commitment by Physicians for Peace to continue supporting the partner organizations in the Burn Consortium. Nyra Gaspar welcomed everyone and said how happy she was to have everyone together in Costa Rica. Nayra thanked PFP and the other local organizations who had helped with putting on this consortium. This was followed by a welcome by the newest partner organization for the burn consortium, Lic. Rocio Valverde, President/Rector of the Universidad Santa Paula.

Then there was a special welcome from the Vice Minister of the office of the Minister of Health for Costa Rica Dra. Ana Morice and Dr. Jose Rojas, Director, Social Security of Costa Rica. Dra Morice officially opened the meeting and thanked the organizers of the burn consortium, in particular the host of this year's meeting, and commited to their continued support for this need. Dr. Rojas said he wants to continue to improve the skills and training of the people who take care of the burn patients in Costa Rica. They have been working with Nyra Gaspar and recognized her and all the tremendous work done by the Asociacion Pro Ayuda al Niño Quemado, APANQ, and then they welcomed all the countries represented.

There were over 100 attendees from all over Central and South America and the Caribbean (Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua and the US) all waiting to learn and exchange information on burn care with their colleagues.  Each of the Partner organizations presented, along with some key speakers from the International Society of Burn Injuries (ISBI). 

The Exhibit Hall was also a success, as attendees spoke with distributors of burn related companies including education, fire department, pharmeceutical etc. This is truly an important event in international health education! 

To learn more about Physicians for Peace's Burn Care Program, visit our web site at www.physiciansforpeace.org/burncare.html