MMFC – Children of Peru

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. The countries they visit with missions include the Philippines, China, India & Cambodia in Asia, Rwanda & Tanzania in Africa, and Guatemala, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico & 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. 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 MMFC‘s mission to Cuzco every year since 2007 (13 missions in total!!) 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 when the Covid pandemic will allow us to go back (the 2020 mission was unfortunately cancelled).