DISTRICT 5300’S NEW Cleft-Lip/Palate Project MISSION

Saving Smiles…Changing Lives
Medellin, Columbia
Cebu City, Philippians
Two weeks – January/February 2024

Mission Flyer

VOLUNTEERS

We have seven (8) non-medical volunteer positions for this mission with Rotaplast open to Rotarians and Rotaractors. The cost: non-medical volunteers are responsible for travel costs that include roundtrip airfare with the group from San Francisco, insurance, VISA and a background check.

-Quartermaster                                  -Medical Records Keeper

-Sterilizer                                            -Mission “historian” (photographer/bloc)

-Ward Coordinator                             -Recovery Room Helper

-Patient Transport                               -Recreation Therapist

Applicants need to:

  • Complete the Rotaplast Mission Volunteer Form
  • Submit a short personal statement addressing: “Why you might be interested in joining a Rotaplast team and what skills you would ring to the team.”
  • Review the Rotaplast website: www.rotaplast.org about various positions.

Email the interest form and personal statement to: dls@drexelcg.com  BY September 15th, 2023

CONTRIBUTIONS

Help us fund this mission with club and individual contributions. Any amount is appreciated. Your donation will change children’s lives.

Donations should be made out to:
“Rotary District 5300 Foundation”
Indicate “Rotaplast” on the memo line.

Send donations to:
Rotary International District 5300
10624 S. Eastern Ave. Ste. A-16
Henderson, NV 89052

QUESTIONS

Questions or to schedule a club program, contact (or any member of the committee):
Drexel L. Smith
District 5300 Cleft Lip Committee
951.202.2012
dls@drexelcg.com

Rotary District 5300 Cleft Lip/Palate Project

ROTAPLAST

Saving Smiles….Changing Lives

     

PROGRAM

Purpose: To provide free reconstructive surgery and ancillary treatments for cleft lips, palates, burn scaring and other deformities.

Where: In developing countries throughout the world.

Who: Volunteer medical professionals and District 5300 Rotarian non-medical volunteers.

ROTAPLAST

District 5300 works with Rotaplast International, Inc., to provide life-changing surgeries to those with cleft lips and/or palates, burn scarring, and other deformities.

  • Rotaplast was started by Rotarians and the Rotary Club of San Francisco.
  • It has been in existence for 27 years.
  • It traditionally carries out 12 two week missions a year and has worked in 26 developing counties.
  • It relies on local Rotarians as support and outreach for patients in surrounding communities.
  • It recruits a highly skilled volunteer medical staff, and most missions utilize Rotarians as non-medical support.
  • It is a 501(c)3 non-profit, humanitarian organization and has received a 4 Star Rating from Charity Navigator (the highest and the same as TRF.) It operates with very low overhead and does no advertising.

DISTRICT MISSIONS

A typical mission will be two weeks long and include a full team of 30+ volunteers, 2/3 of which are medical staff. District 5300 has sponsored 7 missions.

  • 2011: Retalhuleu, Guatemala
  • 2013: Monrovia, Liberia
  • 2015: Retalhuleu, Guatemala
  • 2017: Lima, Peru
  • 2019: Arusha, Tanzania
  • 2020: Agra, India
  • 2022: Medellin, Colombia

Through these surgical missions District 5300 has impacted the lives of many families:

  • 477 Patients Treated
  • 634 Procedures Carried Out

The 2022 mission to Colombia was supported by five non-medical volunteers:

CLUB INVOLVEMENT

Volunteers: The district reaches out to clubs for non-medical volunteer applicants. These volunteers should be active Rotarians from the district, available for the full two week mission, travel with the team out of San Francisco, and be comfortable traveling/working in a developing country. They are responsible for their travel costs and miscellaneous minor expenses.
For our six past missions the District has provided 35 non-medical volunteers in various roles.

  • Mission Director
  • Recovery Room Helper
  • Assistant Mission Director
  • Recreation Therapist
  • Quartermaster
  • Interpreter
  • Medical Records Keeper
  • Ward Coordinator
  • Equipment Sterilizer
  • Mission Historian
  • Patient Transport

Contributions: To support these six missions, our Rotary clubs and individuals have generously contributed $340,000. Usually the district co-sponsors a mission with another entity.

Because of the Rotary Club of Las Vegas, our Cleft Lip/Palate Program has been the fortunate beneficiary of two gifts from the Welles Family Foundation. One is the biannual income from a 7% ownership of a trailer park in Nevada, and the other was a onetime gift of just over $98,000. The District Committee decided that these funds will be used as necessary to help support future missions and not be used to fully fund a single mission. Mission costs range from approximately $85,000 to $150,000 depending on their location and the size of the team.

FUTURE MISSIONS

The Cleft Lip/Palate Committee has recommended, and Governor Roger Gutierrez has agreed to be the sponsor of the upcoming Rotaplast mission to Colombia.  We were planning to be part of a team on April 15 – April 28th, 2023, to Medellin, Colombia where there continues to be a significant need related to cleft lip and palate surgeries and burn scars surgical reconstructions.

COMMITTEE MEMBERS

The District 5300 Cleft Lip/Palate Committee is composed of the following individuals:


Drexel L. Smith, Chair
dls@drexelcg.com


Robin Smith, Co-Chair
redzlife2@yahoo.com


John Chase, PDG
 Jchase5300@gmail.com

Arzoo Salami, MD
dr.salami007@gmail.com

QUESTIONS and ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Club Presentations: We can arrange for one of our non-medical volunteers from a past mission to give a club presentation about their life-changing experience serving on a Rotaplast mission. Contact one of the committee members to schedule a presentation.

Rotaplast Website: Photo blogs of past missions, job descriptions for non-medical volunteers, and extensive general information is available on Rotaplast’s website: https://rotaplast.org/

District Office Contact Information

Rotary International District 5300
10624 S. Eastern Ave. Ste. A-16
Henderson, NV 89052

702.274.0660

Email: office@district5300.org