Rotary International District 5170

"Perhaps one of the most remarkable parts of this mission for a non-medical volunteer is that you feel a part of a group of people that has purpose and talents well beyond your own. Although you will not hold the scalpel, you will hold the hand. Although you will not prescribe the medicine, you will bring them a toy. Although you are not a highly trained medical profession, you are a highly devoted participant."

Brad Howard, Team Member Faces of Hope

"While the range of abilities and experiences is wide, all come with a shared goal: creating a change in people's lives that will bring them hope for the future. In doing so, each of these members will also gain something: the joy that is experienced through making a difference for someone else."

Jamie Kremsreiter, Team Member Faces of Hope

Faces of Hope is a multi club Rotary project established to provide an annual program that will deliver cleft lip and palate corrective surgeries for children in Guatemala.

A cleft lip is a condition that creates an opening in the upper lip between a newborn's mouth and nose. A cleft palate is a condition that causes the roof of a newborn's mouth not to join completely. Millions of children around the world suffer from this common birth defect.

Corrective surgery for clefts is vital not only because of the social stigma that comes with a facial deformity but also because children with clefts are subject to malnutrition due to the difficulty they have in eating and swallowing properly.

This is the 3rd year that a group of District 5170 Rotarians, medical personnel and volunteers have traveled to Antigua to perform this work. Over this period, we have watched beautiful children emerge from their former masks. You see their parents cry because of the blessings they are receiving. You see our team members cry because they cannot believe they are having such an amazing experience.

In addition to our surgical team and our team volunteering in the hospital, a 3rd group within our team, known as the "Casa Team," help to care for the patients and family members who come to see us in Antigua. A neighboring facility, Casa de Fe is a convalescent house, where the patients and their families can stay during their time with us. Each day, our dedicated Casa Team feed, entertain and care for the more than 100 children and families who stay at this facility. In many ways, this team within a team become the human face of our love and care for the entire family.

Our teams are as diverse as they are dedicated, affording us great range and talent as we make a difference to the children of Guatemala. They are comprised of medical professionals and non-medical volunteers. For perspective, our last team was comprised of members who:

• Come from five different countries;
• Are Rotarians from 10 different Rotary clubs;
• Included three members who are in high school and two who are in college; and
• Range in age from teens to the 70s'

Everyone worked hard, and hardly noticed the work. All team members perform a function as valuable as the next, from the most seasoned surgeon to the youngest member.

Sharing in our diversity are the many clubs and organizations that support the program. Twenty-two different Rotary clubs, the Rotary Foundation, the German Club of Napa, Soroptimists, and the District 5170 Foundation all share in our success.

On the last day of our mission, the medical team individually "releases" each patient from the medical care of Faces of Hope. Although they are released from our care, they are not released from our hearts, nor are we released from theirs. Their faces are changed for good, and for ever. But it is the look on the faces of our team members that truly reflect the Faces of Hope.