Healing the Children Rocky Mountains returned for our 8th mission to Peru and returned to Hospital Dos de Mayo in Lima. We trained local surgeons, medical students, nurses, and hospital staff throughout the week and worked side by side with them. We gave several lectures. For months before the mission, during the mission, and afterwards, we have worked very closely with local Peruvians.

There is an extensive network of social workers and volunteers that find the patients, help coordinate transport and lodging in Lima, and then follow up with them. We partnered with the National Translators Society to have professional Spanish translators throughout the week who volunteer their time. So, I really do believe that this mission is sustainable and can continue because so much of the work is done by Peruvian volunteers.

During our one week mission, we accomplished many amazing things. We operated on 115 children and performed 141 surgical procedures. This was about 90 cleft lip and cleft palate surgeries and about 25 pediatric eye surgeries. Because of the Sorenson Legacy Foundation's generous grant, we were able to purchase equipment to perform the very first pediatric cataract eye surgery. This gave 3 children the opportunity to literally restore their vision. We hope to expand this program in the coming years to help more children.

315 pairs of glasses were prescribed, fitted, and purchased. The local school districts in Lima screen children throughout the year and then bus them in. We get brand new designer frames donated in the U.S. and then our optometrists perform an exam. The children pick out frames they like and then we pay a local lens maker to make custom lenses (typically $1-$5.) Then the kids get a brand new pair of glasses that they got to pick out 2 days later. Pretty awesome! 94 hearing aids were fitted and given. These are patients (mostly children) with mild to severe hearing loss. We have trained the hospital staff on how to provide replacement batteries, replacement parts, and help program them. So even with subtracting the overlap of patients that got both surgery and speech therapy, etc., we were able to help over 500 individuals!

These are truly our Peruvian brothers and sisters. They are individuals who have hopes, dreams, and families. With your generous help these past years, we have helped improve the lives of thousands of Peruvians.