Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers and donors, RESTOR International’s November 2014 mission to Bahir Dar, Ethiopia was an incredible success. More than 200 people sought out our clinic, some walking huge distances to the Gamby Hospital to access care.
Seventy one surgeries were performed with our team of Plastic Surgeons, Pediatricians, Anesthesiologists, and Nurses, with 50 of those surgeries involved burn contracture release most requiring skin grafts. These terrible disfigurements are usually caused by young children falling in to open cooking fires. Without the most basic burn treatment the resulting contracture can cause a lifetime of disability, pain, disfigurement, and social isolation. We have also been successful in establishing the first stage of a burn unit at The Gamby Hospital with our Ethiopian and Rotarian partners.
There are many exciting plans underway for the next year. We will be going back to Ethiopia to build on the sustainable model we have created with our health care partners. And we have launched our new name and visual identify to align with our evolution.