News update of Donna's happenings

It's been quite a while since I've taken the time to add a post here, so I want to catch up a little.  I'm in Guadalajara, Mexico, right now and preparing to return home soon.  I'm just completed another Operation Smile volunteer medical mission to repair cleft lip and cleft palate defects in children of the world.
   Going back to 2014, I was very happy to have been asked to three missions - all in the first part of the year:  Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Pampanga, Philippines.  All were wonderful experiences and hundreds of children had their lives transformed.
    After the Cambodia and Honduras missions, I stayed on my own in the cities in order to see more of the area when I wasn't working in the hospitals.  I learn so much by getting out on my own.
    After that I flew to Denver to celebrate the first birthday of my great-grandson, Wesley.  He is a real joy and doing very well.  Unfortunately, I had a hospitalization for small intestine obstruction which was three days, but I was in the ER when my plane flew off to Denver, so flight arrangements were quickly made.  Luckily I had plenty of time before friends and family of Wesley gathered for his big day.  I spent a couple weeks in Denver.     I'll make a new post to describe the last half of 2014.  It was a very busy year!  Maybe I'll be more organized and able to add photos soon.
    To be continued as time allows...!

Back from Rawanda 2013

Operation Smile - back from Rawanda  2013
    After the Congo I was asked to go to Rawanda for another mission to repair cleft lips and cleft palates in that country.  I learned as much as I could about the country, from its beauty to its turbulent past.  The recent genocide gave me pause to go there, but once I got into the country I was amazed at the progress this little country in the middle of Africa has bounced back to be more of a model of tolerance, and gaining slowly in prosperity.
   I flew a long, long way and a long, long time to get to the capital called Kigali.  I flew west from Hawaii with a long lay-over in Seoul, Korea, and on Qatar Air to Qatar then Uganda and finally Rawanda.  The 40 member team from various countries gathered the first night in Kigali, then took vans a few hours west to the town of Ruhengeri.
    We were three to a room, with one on a mattress on the floor.  We spent a week there, walking back and forth to the hospital,  except on nights in the pouring rain, when we could get rides. There was a nice center where people with clefts could come as families and stay for the screening and surgery.
    The first day there we screened all the kids and people can came requesting surgery.  Some were too sick or too malnourished to have an operation, and will be seen on another mission, maybe next year.
    I helped set up the operating rooms in the hospital, all our equipment and instrumentation coming from shipments from Operation HQ in Virginia.
    A group of guys from England, like a boy band, came to lend their support and help publicize the mission.   The local volunteers and the children and parents were so wonderful.  They were happy to see us and even happier after the surgeries.
    I worked in the Operating Room.  One room had two operating tables and the other room had three.  It was quite crowded and very busy, but we did over a hundred cases in the 4 1/2  days of surgery.
   Interestingly a man came into the hospital's ER and then to their OR. He had stepped on a hand gernade or land mine that had been buried in the mud around a lake since the genocide.  It blew his lower leg off.  Our operation smile doctors helped the local staff to stop the bleeding and clean up the stump so he could be transported to Kigali for further treatment and a major hospital.    Times like this is when reality really hits home.  This country has suffered tremendously.
    I will add pictures of the mission later.
     After the mission I went on my own, but with a couple other people that stayed over, and we went up the nearby Volcanoes National Park to see the Mountain Gorillas... as in the movie of Diane Fossey "Gorillas in the Mist".  This was the place!  The first day we went to see the Golden Monkeys in their home of the bamboo forests, it was really fun to watch them and take lots of pictures.  The next morning, praying that the rain would hold off, we met at the Park and were assigned into groups of eight.  We had requested to view a gorilla group that would take us on only a moderately strenuous hike.   There are about 12 gorilla groups that are habituated to humans watching them.  There are other groups that can be visited across the border in Uganda.  But the gorillas that are on the other border to the Democratic Republic of the Congo are in danger still, because they are not protected, and can still be poached.
   We drove to a small village where the trail to our gorilla group called "Bewandi" were.  Trackers had followed them the night before and knew the location where they'd "nested" and went back up in the morning to continue tracking them until we arrived.  We had a guide and I hired a porter to carry my backpack and help me up the tricky and steep mountain path.  Hiring the local men is helpful to the village and a deterant to poaching.  The hike took almost two hours and I was usually in the rear, with four physically fit Aussies setting the pace in the lead.   We had a couple park rangers meet us at the stone wall that surrounds much of the park.  Then we all walked up to meet the trackers and put our bags down ready for the one-hour adventure with the gorillas.
     It was amazing to see two Silverback Mountain Gorillas in the group with other members of various ages.  One female had a one month baby gorilla which she carried closely in her arm.  We were very close to all of them, and had many rules to follow during the encounter.  Basically the gorillas had no concern about our presence and more just intent on eating the bamboo and other plants and leaves that they found find.  We all got many photos and videos of the visit, and were grateful for the once-in-a-lifetime experience we had, even if it was just for one hour.   The rain held off until we were back in Ruhengeri.
     After that we went to the big lake near Goma, the border crossing to DCR.  ...to be continued

Operation Smile - return from DCR (Congo) Africa

I recently returned from 10 days in the Congo (DRC) in the capitol city of Kinshasa, the old Leopoldville in the old country of Zaire (and the Belgium Congo, before that).

I was fortunate enough to go as a volunteer Operating Room nurse with Operation Smile, a volunteer organization which surgically repairs cleft palates and cleft lips in children, primarily.

   Our group of 40 was composed of Plastic Surgeons (4), Anesthesiologists (5), OR Nurses (4) and several recovery and pediatric nurses, and other integral members of a" traveling hospital."  We were able to occupy two operating rooms in a local hospital for the 5 days of surgery.  The other days involved screening hundreds of surgical candidates and setting up the areas of operation.  About 17 members of the team were from the USA and the others were from several other countries including Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, Ghana, Italy, England and Ireland.

Waiting to hear if their child has been accepted for surgery

   About 126 kids and older patients were operated on to instantly change their lives to make a small change in their faces, yet to impact their social acceptance and self esteem in a big way.  The kids and parents were great.  I enjoyed working with the many hospital employees, nursing and medical students, and interns who aided us, and also learned from us.  On the other hand, we learned about the parents love for their children, their generosity and patience, and their eagerness to learn new things.


Donna and a child with cleft lip - before surgery

      I'd never been in Africa before, except for one day in Dakar, Senagal, on a tour in 1968.  I didn't know what to expect in Kinshasa.  We arrived at night so I couldn't see the lay of the land, and never saw the nearby famous, Congo River.  Our van ride to the hotel was ill-fated.  We broke down on the highway in the fast lane.  After tinkering with stuff under the van (while we sat without lights and everyone honking and barely missing us), the driver and assistant rolled the van backward down the hill until he could "pop the clutch" (I think).  We tried rolling back three times, each time I envisioned a horrible rear-end collision.  Finally it caught and we were on our way, only to have it happen again...loss of power.  This time we got off the road and they called a smaller van to start ferrying us on to the city.  That's about as scary as it got.  But we were warned of crime and the need for security measures while there.  We stayed in groups both to the hospital and to the restaurant for our evening meal, and back to the hotel.  We were warned never to take a taxi.  So everything went well.

Two operations going on at once

   The hospital days were very busy, very tiring, yet very rewarding. We had wonderful volunteer translators who spoke the local Lingala and French and made it possible to talk to the people.   It's heart-warming to see so many children have this transformational surgery. The children were so sweet and the parents so grateful for the help provided to their children.

     In the days of screening we saw people who had conditions of many years, that we couldn't treat, including burns from acid thrown at them, and a woman with her fingers hacked off by her husband.  Several had disfiguring tumors, and we were able to help one or two with smaller facial tumors.  I heard there is an International Charity with a ship that can offer help to those larger cases we couldn't do.  The organization is "Mercy Ships" of Texas, and the current ship is called  Africa Mercy.  It may dock at Pointe-Noire next year across the Congo river on the Atlantic, west of Brazzaville .  That's about all I know of that, but hopefully many in the Congo can get help there.

    Our days in Kinshasa were followed the tight routine of Work, Eat, Sleep.  But on the last day while waiting for our flights home at 8 pm,  we were able to rent a van to take us to the Bonobo Sanctuary.

 It's called the "Lola ya Bonobo" (Paradise for Bonobos in Lingala).  Bonobos are a separate species from Chimpanzees and are identified as our "closest" genetic cousin.  Indeed, the nursery at the sanctuary gave us a glimpse of orphans hugging and playing with their surrogate human mothers who devote time with them until they get older and can be released in the "teenage" area.

Surrogate mother with her bonobo babies

Surrogate mother with her "teen" kids

     In the teenage area one particular little guy had a wonderful time jumping onto the top of a pipe and balancing on one foot.  In addition he scooped water from a pool with his hollowed out orange, and drank water from the makeshift "cup".



 All the areas in the sanctuary are fenced off from humans and provide as wild of an environment as possible to live.  As I understand it, Bonobos were discovered in about 1928 and are only found in the DCR Congo.  Their habitat is surrounded by rivers, and it's said they can't swim well so evolved separately from Chimpanzees on the other sides of the rivers.  Now that lumbering is destroying their habitat and adults killed for bushmeat, the babies are sold as pets or abandoned.  This sanctuary seeks to provide a sanctuary for the homeless Bonobo, now endangered I think.  At any rate, this glimpse of Africa, out of the city, was never to be forgotten. 
    I returned to Hawaii after about 36 hours of air travel, including about 27 hours in airplane seats.  The trip seemed to help my herniated disc and sciatica pain, for what reason, I don't understand.  But after a week of jet-lag, I am looking forward to another trip to Africa.

Venezuela -Operation Smile

I’ve returned from another Operation Smile Medical Mission – this time to Maturin, Venezuela. Four days was all the time I had to prepare for this trip, as I was asked to fill in for an Operating Room Nurse who had signed on with this mission, but had to cancel at the last minute.   I flew down there from Honolulu, via LAX and Houston, to Caracas, then had to wait 11 hours in the Caracas domestic terminal to get a flight south to Maturin.  We operated on 159 kids to repair their cleft lips and cleft palates at the local hospital.  Some days I worked up to 14 hours to get the cases done.  But it was all very much worth it to know what a change had happened in their lives.  The people were very kind and happy to have us there.  One day we were treated to an outing to see people of an outlying village doing their folk dances and songs.  We also visited a “people-run” tomato ketchup processing plant.  It was once owned by the Heinz company I’m told.  The governor of the state hosted our farewell party.

Screening the children before the days of surgery

At the tomato ketchup processing plant

In the Operating Room

  

  After the completion of the mission, I stayed a few days with four others and we traveled to the Orinoco River Delta to experience a bit of the swamp.  There was a pet capybara at the camp, I think it’s about the largest rodent there is.  At any rate, it was a baby, and cute, about the size of a medium dog.   We ventured out for a walk in the swamp (with guide), that is, until both of my feet got stuck deep in the muck and I needed help to get out.  Kind of eerie as the swamp water poured into my knee-high boots.    I wouldn’t like to be a long-term swamp dweller, but it was interesting for two days.  We stayed above the swampy ground on wooden planks in rooms with mosquito nets around the beds.  We paddled around the river and saw the piranha others had caught nearby.  Not a good place for swimming, or falling overboard from the dugout canoe.  

Our lodge for the night in the Orinoco Swamp

Local natives in dugout canoe

Pouring out swamp water from my boot

From the Orinoco we traveled more hours by boat and car to the airport at Ciudad Bolivar to get an 8-seat plane to Canaima National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There was a beautiful lagoon at the base of several small wide waterfalls.  The first thing we did is walk underneath, or behind, a long pounding waterfall, kind of like a small Niagara Falls (in my mind).  It was very wet and at one point a big scary.  Once we made it across, we had to return the same way.      

The falls at Canaima

Heading under the Canaima falls

Donna looking and feeling like a drowned rat!

The next day we made our way four hours by motorized dugout canoe up the river, through rapids to a camp near the base of Angel Falls.  It was a wet ride through the rapids and a bit scary at times, but the scenery was amazing as the clouds lifted to be able to see the high flat mountains.  The highest around is from where Angel Falls drops 3,300 feet. Supposed to be the highest free falling waterfall in the world.   This is the region that the creators of the animated movie “Up” visited to get an idea as the background for the movie.

At our base camp

We walked over an hour and a half to get a real view of the whole falls.  There some of the group decided to swim in the cold pool at the bottom.  Since it was getting late and a mist was falling, I started walking back to the river.  I had been very careful not to get my sneakers very wet because I was to wear them on the plane going home the next couple days.  But on the way down it started raining harder and harder.  The sun set and it was getting darker and darker.  I threw all caution to the wind and was grabbing every tree and hanging vine to steady myself as I high-tailed it down the rocky, root crossed trail.  I was splashing through deep pools of standing water on the trail and not even thinking about snakes and spiders and other jungle animals.  At the river our little group had to wait for the guide because we were already unsure of our route.  Eventually everyone made it down and we took the boat downriver to our camp.  It was Halloween night and we sat around the fire and told ghost stories!  Our native guide told us a few of his ancestor stories.  We retired to a set of hammocks strung under a roof.  I slept with a mosquito-net hat on, and it wasn’t too bad, but the comfort of a hammock is highly overrated, as far as I’m concerned. 

CARACAS, VENEZUELA

   We made it back to the airport the next day and flew back to the city then by car another four hours to Maturin. The next day I flew to Caracas and got an afternoon tour of the city.  The city has a reputation for crime, and there were places the driver wouldn’t go, but there was an impressive view from the top of a gondola ride to the see the panorama of Caracas.  It was a long flight back home, but I was very happy to have had the opportunity to see such an interesting country, and meet the hospitable people in Venezuela.

Back from Bolivia

It's been over a month since I returned from Bolivia.  There, with Operation Smile, we did 115 surgeries on kids with cleft lip or cleft palate.  This was in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, in the low land, southern part.  I enjoyed the challenge and was happy at the great success achieved by everyone's hard work there.

Since then I thought I'd settle back and enjoy living in Hawaii and doing some genealogy. Well, I was asked to fulfill a need with an mega-mission to Guwahati, India for two weeks in January/February 2011. At first I declined, but later changed my mind, as I know I can make a difference in so many lives. The plan is to do at least 250 kids by our team. I have never been to India, and have decided to extend a week on my own to see some of the sights around Delhi - like the Taj Mahal at Agra, and Juipur.

Thanksgiving was great, and I am looking forward to spending Christmas with my daughter, Alisa and all the family in Arizona. 

March 31, 2009

If these pages are sparce it's not because I've been asleep for months, on the contrary, I've been traveling and having a hard time trying to catch up.

Since January when I finished up a nice Christmas vacation in Sierra Vista, Arizona with my daughter's family, I focused on preparations for my first "Operation Smile" medical trip to Managua, Nicaragua. As an operating room nurse, I have been looking forward to going to developing countries and doing what I could to change people's lives for the better. In February I was honored to be able to go with this volunteer organization and be apart of fixing the cleft lips and cleft palates of 91 children. It was a very challenging experience, but very rewarding. I plan to go on another of these missions in July - again to Nicaragua...this time operating in the USNS Comfort, and US Navy Hospital Ship that will be anchored off shore on the Pacific side.

At the moment I'm preparing for a trip with "Overseas Adventure Travel" to Thailand, Vietnam and Burma. I've secured the required visas, and will get my malaria pills soon.

In addition I'm trying to fit in some genealogy moments, and also get out to the gym and to pursue my outdoor fun tracking down "GeoCaches" at this end of Hawaii. See photo where I'm finding the "SubMariner's" geocache and photo of Lucille finding geocache "Tunnel Vision" in the lava ledges.

I'll post some photos below of the Operation Smile experience: