LEAP is traveling to Belize twice in the next couple of months–from May 18th- 21st and again from June 8th – 11th.  We will be performing corrective surgeries at the Northern Regional Hospital. During our May trip, LEAP will bring specialists in craniofacial and eye surgery, and our June trip will focus on craniofacial and hand surgery.
This is LEAP’s 17th year providing free medical services to the people of Belize, continuing our commitment to their long-term needs. We will update the blog with news during and after the trip.
This week, we would love prayers for:

1. Rapid and complication free recoveries for patients

2. Safety, health and stamina for team members

3. Precision and excellence in procedures for medical teams

4. LEAP’s actions are the embodiment of God’s good news and we can be the vessel that enables God’s continual revelation to the Belizeans

We are sitting at the Children’s Home, resting from an incredible week. Three of our team members left this morning, seven will leave tonight by train, and the rest of us will leave in the morning by bus. In sum, it can get pretty interesting logistically to arrange travel for nearly 40 people to a remote place halfway around the world!  We evaluated and treated 150 patients on evaluation day and selected 78 for surgery. Due to the speed and efficiency of the team, we were able to add 14 cases from a waiting list and completed 92 major surgeries!

Many of the patients presented to surgery with cleft lip and palates, while some returned for further repairs on primary clefts, which often prove to be much more complex surgeries. We also did several burn reconstructions, including one little girl whose wrist and thumb were folded into a nonfunctional ball of scar tissue. The majority of these children would not have been operated in the United States due to anemia, poor nutrition, runny noses, and other issues. All surgeries were successful with beautiful, life changing transformations safely done – a tribute to world-class anesthesia, recovery room nurses, operating room nurses and techs, respiratory tech Haley Forman, dedicated surgeons, excellent pediatricians, and many others who comprised this LEAP team. We were aided greatly by “Mr. Sony,” our friend and Indian operating room technician who repaired anesthesia machines, Bovies, suction machines and many other essential tools that would have been deemed irreparable under normal circumstances. The Indian nursing students were essential for translation. They were great and enthusiastic helpers and sponges in soaking up the lessons our nurses taught them. Our hosts at the Children’s Home and the hospital raised the bar for helpfulness, graciousness and support.

Dr. Cheryl Cermin and Nora Hooks ran a very effective orthodontic clinic, placing orthodontic feeding appliances in seven infants, orthodontic appliances in two more, complete braces in three patients, and treating 19 patients overall. A very exciting part of their work was training the dentists at the hospital. According to Dr. Cermin, their skill and enthusiasm was at the highest level. These dentists are from the region and are committed to the Lord and to our partner CICM for the long term–a rare thing to find in this area of the world.

The LEAP ancillary team attended the graduation of the senior nursing students and were guests of honor, giving the devotional prayer and handing out the diplomas. LEAP and the CICM nursing students are great partners in every LEAP Central mission. The LEAP surgical team was visited by the mayor of the city and the cabinet minister of this region of Central India, two political leaders in India, who praised the LEAP team for their excellence and service in providing life changing surgeries to children in one of the poorest regions of India.