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Medical Mission For Children (MMFC):
MMFC
is a US based 501(c)3 charity dedicated to providing free quality
surgical and dental services to poor and under-privileged children
in various countries throughout the world. Since the early
1990s, their volunteers have donated their time and expertise to
change the lives of thousands of impoverished children throughout
the world. They then evolved into the current
Medical Missions for Children
(MMFC) which was founded as
a non-profit organization in 2000. Their current missions for 2008
include the Philippines & India in Asia, Rwanda, Tanzania & Mali in
Africa, the Ukraine in Europe and finally Guatemala, El Salvador,
Ecuador & Peru in Latin America.
MMFC
is dedicated to each of these countries as they are visited at least
once a year and as long-term follow-up is considered a high
priority.
MMFC
started going to Peru in 2003 with a team performing cleft lip and
palate repairs at the Cuzco Regional Hospital. There is a lot of
poverty in Cuzco and there are many cleft patients that are left
untreated. Since 2005, they have an agreement with the EsSalud
(Peru's Social Security organization) Cuzco hospital who provides
them with 2 Operating Rooms and help of additional Surgeons, Doctors
and Nurses.
On these
pictures you can see the same little girl, right before her surgery
in October 2007 (first picture) and the day following her surgery
(second picture). The third photo shows her in May 2008 when we saw
her again to check her palate.
A typical MMFC mission to Cuzco involves 25 to 30 team
members (surgeons, pediatricians, dentists, nurses,
anesthesiologists etc...) who are all coming from the best
institutions/hospitals/clinics in the US and who are donating their
time and work. Around 100 children are screened for surgery
and between 60 and 80 (depending on severity of cases) surgeries are
performed (cleft lips & palates, cleft lip rhinoplasties, pharyngeal
flaps, etc... as well as microtias). The dental team typically
treats 75 to 100 children and more than 100 procedures are executed.
The Children of Peru Foundation is proud to have
sponsored and financed 100% of the 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 (9 missions in total!!)
MMFC's
mission to Cuzco with grants ranging each year between
$30,000 and $45,000.
We are committed to the poor children of Cuzco in need
of surgeries and we are committed to
MMFC great work,
so it is our intention to continue our support and be the sponsors
again for the next mission in 2016.
In 2010 we started a new Peru mission with MMFC: Cajamarca.
In June 2011, the second mission to Cajamarca (sponsored again by
us) took place. It has been discontinued after that because of
political troubles in the region.
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