Originally published on SacramentoExecutive.com.

In October 2005, I joined a Rotaplast International mission to India. The Mission of Rotaplast International is to provide free reconstructive surgery and treatment for underprivileged children worldwide, to provide education, and to advance research in the prevention of cleft lip and palate. The goal of Rotaplast International is to eliminate the incidence of untreated cleft lips and palates in children worldwide by the year 2025.

Rotaplast International, Inc. was founded in 1992 by Rotary Club President Peter Lagarias and Dr. Angelo Capozzi in collaboration with the Rotary Club of San Francisco to facilitate a surgical program in La Serena, Chile to treat children with the cleft lip and palate anomaly who would otherwise not receive surgical intervention. Since its founding, many thousands of children have been treated around the world. Dr. Capozzi is now working at Shriner's Hospital in Sacramento but still very actively involved in Rotaplast.

The trip I joined was supported by local Rotary Clubs primarily from Sacramento and West Sacramento with local housing costs being provided by the Karaikal, India Rotary Club. I was privileged to join this trip and will chronicle my trip in segments over the next few days.

Rotaplast Karaikal, India September 26, 2005-October 9, 2005

Monday/Tuesday – Day 1

Thirty-nine volunteers from around the world begin their journey to be a part of the second Rotaplast mission to Karaikal, India. The sixteen West Coast members meet, many for the first time, at San Francisco airport, recognizing each other from the t-shirt that each is wearing emblazoned with the Rotaplast logo. We check in our small bags leaving room within each of our individual luggage allowance for the 48 boxes of medical equipment that will be accompanying us. We also carry medical books that we have gathered to donate to the Vinayaka Missions Medical College library that was destroyed by the recent tsunami. Our trip will take 37 hours with a flight change in Frankfurt and a brief few hours of sleep at a hotel in Chennai, formerly Madras. And along with way, we will meet up with additional team members who will join us at points along our route until our number totals thirty-nine. A team, made up of surgeons, anesthesiologists, pediatricians, orthodontists, dentists, a geneticist, operating room and recovery room nurses, a photographer, a writer and other non-medical volunteers, hailing from nine states and 5 countries. During the ten days we are in Karaikal, the mission has set a very aggressive goal - to perform a minimum of 120 cleft palate, cleft lip and burn surgeries. In addition, many of the patients that were operated on during the previous mission in January 2004 are invited back to allow an evaluation of prior performance and an opportunity to put in place measures to ensure even greater success in the future.

Wednesday – Day 2

A 37-hour trip, we found with hindsight, allows for some great bonding. By the time we arrived in Chennai at midnight after more than 24 hours of travel, and still more to go, we have already become a cohesive group with a single mission – getting to Karaikal! The Rotarians from Karaikal, who have made the six hour drive to meet us, are a welcome sight. They are here to ensure our safe arrival and quick passage through customs. It becomes apparent, when customs officers make only the most cursory inspection of our 48 boxes and individual luggage, that word of the great work that Rotaplast provides is becoming widely known and respected in India.

The bedraggled team members are quickly transported to a local hotel for a few hours of rest before the final six-hour bus ride south. We awake to a view of the Bay of Bengal and a quick breakfast. As we wait to load onto the bus the next morning, local children crowd around us to shake our hands. “Hello”, they shout as they delight in seeing their pictures on our digital cameras.

A typical welcoming lunch is served to us at a Pondicherry restaurant enroute. The representatives of the Karaikal Rotary patiently explain each dish to us and we delight in exploring vegetarian curries, chapattis, papadum and bean curd.

When we finally arrive in Karaikal, we are met with a wonderful celebration complete with music and a huge welcome banner stretched across the hotel entrance. Many Rotary club members form a receiving line, shaking each of our hands and thanking each of us for coming to Karaikal. We are especially honored to meet one of the local Rotarians who had personally saved several lives when the tsunami hit Karaikal just a few short months ago. This evening, we attend a grand welcoming ceremony at the Medical School with many distinguished speakers and a crowd of several hundred who pack the auditorium. Special recognition is given to Rotaplast’s driving force, Dr. Angelo Capozzi, and Mission Director, Paul Fisher. From the warmth of the applause, it is obvious that they are held in the greatest of respect in Karaikal. After the speeches, some of the students perform a series of dance reviews. Dinner is back at the hotel, where again the local Rotarians turn out en masse to welcome us and offer their complete support for our mission.

Thursday – Day 3

Today the real work begins. The opening day clinic is held where potential patients come from far and wide to be evaluated and ultimately accepted or rejected for treatment. To be continued........

Gillian Parrillo The Sacramento Executive