ORH 2018 - 20 years 'Operation Restore Hope' in Manila
This year’s mission of "Operation Restore Hope“ is a special one. We are celebrating our twentieth anniversary. Exactly 20 years ago Dr. Christopher Wachsmuth, co founder and president of “ORH" Germany“ and Tristan De Chalain, founder and president of "ORH New Zealand" first started operating on children from the slums of Manila.An experienced team of plastic surgeons, anesthetists, theatre nurses, technicians and admin staff aim to improve the lives of children suffering from cleft palates and lips as well as children with hand and foot deformaties, burns and tumors. As an indispensable organiser Ms. Via Hoffmann, co founder of "Alay Sa Kinabukasan“ or for short, ASK foundation has taken care of organisation and logistics in the Philippines for the past 20 years.
Her own team spends months in preparation prior to the start of the mission taking care of legalizing work permits, arranging custom clearances as well as venturing out into those shanty towns of Manila and other remote areas all over the Phillippines finding children in need of help.ORH Administrator in New Zealand, Hector Gonzales is another prominent figure within the organisation, the person where all strings come together regarding administration, logistics and tecnical questions.Operation Restore Hope in Manila.
From 09.-17.03 the highly specialized team of 32 will strive to operate on as many as 78 patients in the hospital Ospital Ng Paranaque. During this sometimes highly emotional week, our volunteers from New Zealand, Australia, the UAE, UK and Germany will happily exchange their daily routine at home to complete another mission and therefore change the outlook on life forever for these children. In order to help a great number of patients it is essential to have a smooth process.
The first two days are utilized setting up theatres and wards and assessing prospective patients prior to commencing the surgical week. To accomodate all cases 3 teams are operating simulataneously all day long.
The international team has once again chosen Ospital Ng Paranaque for this years mission. The professional cooperation with Dr. Ephraim Neal Orteza, Director of the hospital, its location and technical standard has proven to be of undeniable value to yet another successful year.Our aim is also to give philippino doctors and nurses a chance to see the work by including them into our medical teams.
By involving local medical staff into the ORH team we aim to be part of their education. Operation Restore Hope has got a long standing relationship with the local Department of Health as well as other medical institutions.