From time to time, special situations of need call our attention. These can be individuals or groups that have a need so urgent or of such importance that we feel we must act.
Click to link to the project further down on this page:
By luck, we met Joey in 2005 when visiting a remote village some 30 miles North of Vientiane. Joey who was born with cleft feet deformity was then three years old. Having no resources, his parents had accepted his fate. After much discussion, our coordinator Sommanouane convinced them that perhaps a medical intervention could improve Joey’s mobility. With their agreement and our support, we brought him to the National Rehabilitation Center for a series of progressive casts which lasted several months. The biggest problem was transportation as the village is not easily accessible and Joey needed to visit the center on a regular basis. Thanks to Sommanouane’s love, care and dedication, Joey finally underwent his first surgery at Mohosoth Hospital in May 2006, followed by a second surgery two months later. We were ecstatic to witness Joey’s first unassisted steps in late September 2006.
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| Joey when we first met him. | |
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| Joey's feet in one of a series of casts - Joey with his mom and grandparents | |
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Joey says "Thank you" on the day we witness his first unassisted steps. |
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Without accurate records, we estimated Vang to be about five years old when we found her at Home of Light in early 2004. Like many other children there, she was born with congenital cataract. Our intuition however was that she could profit from eye surgery as we guessed that she underwent capsulotomy surgery at an early age and perhaps could recover some vision. We were fortunate to be able to arrange for laser surgery for her in 2005, followed by another capsulotomy surgery in 2006, performed in Laos by the Vietnamese Team of Professor Tien and his assistant Dr. Hoang. We later took Vang to Bangkok for a complete refractory exam.
Vang has recovered sufficient vision to follow the regular school curriculum and with our support is now enrolled at the Sengsavanh College, a local private elementary school.
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| The Vietnamese surgical team - Vang receiving the laser surgery | ||||
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| Vang with her corrective glasses - Vang with her first coloring book. | ||||
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Vang on her first day of school. – Vang studying piano.
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In cooperation with the villagers, the foundation provided matching funds to build this steel bridge over the river bordering Simmano, giving farmers an easy access to their rice fields. The bridge was built with scrap metal left over from the Indochinese conflict of the 70’s.
The Sissatanak Hospital Plastic Surgery Project Since 2004, the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation provided support to doctors at Sissatanak District Hospital for their education in plastic surgery. The foundation sponsored and organized the logistics of sending a team of American doctors to Vientiane to provide further training to local surgeons. The project was complex as no equipment was available at Sissatanak Hospital. Three crates of equipment were sent in September 2006 to install a functional operating room. It included an anesthesia machine, patient monitors with EKG, pulse oxymetry and blood pressure, a defibrillator, a suction pump, an autoclave, electrocautery equipment, oxygen tanks and regulators as well as surgical instruments and supplies. Generous of their time and resources, Dr. William McClure, a plastic surgeon in California and Dr. Sarah Jones, an anesthesiologist in Virginia, covered the expense of their own flights for this mission, to arrive in Vientiane on September 14th. They performed surgeries for 12 young Laotians on September 15th and 16th. The foundation is now studying how to further support the development of what would be the first plastic surgery facility in the country.
Pre-surgery exams
Pre-surgery exams - Surgery
Dr. Sarah James with new anesthesia machine - Surgical team
Surgery - Operating the new autoclave • back to topCommitted to help with education in remote areas, the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation is presently reviewing plans to build a new school at Vienthong Village, in cooperation with the villagers. Located at two and a half hour drive North of Vientiane, the elementary school will house nearly 300 students and will be outfitted with new furniture. We hope to begin construction in the spring of 2007.
The site where we hope to build the new school.
The proposed plans for the new school. • back to topVientiane Health Department Dental Clinic Since we provided Maknao Health Care Center and Naxaythong District Hospital with new dental equipment, it was only fair to refurbish the old dental clinic of the Health Department in downtown Vientiane, the only one in the city. In fact this clinic provides much of the training for dentists who later work in rural areas and where services are relatively inexpensive. We were happy to provide them with a new chair, state of the art instruments and x-ray capability.
While visiting our projects in early January 2007, we were alerted by Dr. Leila Srour about the tragic accident of Pheng. The 20 year old boy had been struck by lightning while working in a rice field in his village near Luang Nam Tha. Pheng, who survived the ordeal, was burned over 70% of his body and left suffering several months with minimal care. In coordination with Her Excellency Karen Tan, Ambassador of Singapore in Laos, a team of surgeons headed by Professor ST Lee flew to Vientiane with necessary supplies and provided extensive surgery for Pheng. The Lao Rehabilitation Foundation coordinated the logistics of flying Pheng to Setthathirath Hospital in Vientiane, covered all hospital expenses, and provided food and lodging for his father who accompanied him on the journey. Pheng is now doing extensive rehabilitation work at Setthathirath Hospital and we hope to fly him back to his village by mid-April, after a 3 month stay in the hospital.
After 7 months of hospitalization, numerous skin grafts and other surgeries, we brought Pheng and his father back to their village near Luang Namtha in the North of Laos in July 2007. To facilitate frequent visits from his family to the small hospital where he will reside for a few more months, we purchased a new motorbike for the family as they live at quite a distance from the medical facility.
Placed under the dedicated care of Dr. Indara Phetsamone, ophthalmologist, LRF provided financial support for Pheng’s oculoplastic surgery in Bangkok in March 2008. The complex surgery was successfully performed by Dr. Nattawut Wanumkarng and his team. We expect to send Pheng back to Bangkok for corneal transplant surgery in a few months.
LRF provided Pheng with a new Yamaha keyboard in May 2008 when we went to visit him in Luang Namtha as he expressed a strong interest to play music. We expect him to do well, despite his handicap.
We met Mong while visiting our school project in Simmano in January 2007. Mong was born with an intestinal malformation which was summarily corrected at birth. The problem became much more serious at age seven when we met him. With the relentless efforts of our local coordinator Ms. Sasithone Sengchang, the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation provided all necessary support to send him to Mahosoth Hospital where he underwent surgery by a team of Vietnamese surgeons. After two surgeries, it seems that Mong is now doing well and may hope to live a normal life among the other kids of the village. We will continue our support for Mong and his family until life has returned to normal.
While visiting our projects in January 2007, Ms. Santisouk Phimsavanh, a manager at Novotel Hotel, Vientiane, made us aware of Kheahk’s story and proposed to collaborate with the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation to take care of him and his family. Khaehk, 8 years old, has no parents and lives with his 82 years old grandmother and a little girl that may be his sister in a shack on the outskirts of Vientiane. He never attended school and spends most of his time playing in the rice fields or gathering food for his family. After giving him and his sister a well needed bath, a haircut and nail trimming, we took them shopping for new clothes, shoes, food and school materials. Ms. Ronda Carlson who was visiting at the time provided them with a bicycle and we made arrangements with the chief of the village to provide supervision for their school attendance. We replaced the old shack with a new modest home and gave the family a couple of pigs to start a little farm for sustainability. Kheahk is doing well in school today while still taking care of his family and the pigs. Our staff visits them regularly to provide any assistance they may need with food, clothing, medicine or moral support.
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Khaehk attending school!• back to top
Health Department Computer Classroom
In cooperation with Standard Chartered Bank (Thai IT Division), we installed a computer classroom at the Department of Health in April 2007 to provide computer skills to the medical staff. The 20 computers were loaded with a variety of software including Lao language and were installed in a room at the Department of Health which we remodeled and air conditioned. We then retained the services of a skilled local teacher and began a series of three month instructional programs at beginning, intermediate and advanced levels. The first group of 15 students graduated in August 2007. We expect this program to be long term.
Food Relief Mission in Attapeu Province: In cooperation with the Foundation for Assisting Poor People of Lao PDR, in August 2007 we provided over 20 tons of food and supplies to villagers in the poorest and remote villages of Attapeu Province. While the supplies were mostly given by Thai monks, the Lao Rehabilitation Foundation covered the cost of trucking the goods; the FAPPL provided the logistics, a difficult venture during monsoon months as many villages are not easily accessible. Note the presence of de-mining teams on the photos as the area is still heavily plagued by land mines.
The Mittaphab Hospital Plastic Surgery Project
In Cooperation with Plasticos Foundation, Lao Rehabilitation Foundation organized and coordinated a plastic surgery project at Mittaphab Hospital, Vientiane, in January 2008. A team of 13 health professionals, surgeons, anesthesiologists, pediatricians and specialized nurses from Los Angeles, the San Francisco Bay area, Portland Oregon, Singapore and Hong Kong was assembled and met in Vientiane to perform free reconstructive surgeries for children and adults from impoverished regions of Laos. With the help of Cathay Pacific Airways, the team brought all necessary medical equipment and supplies for the mission.
More than 100 people coming from Oudomxay, Luang Prabang, Luang Namtha, Bokeo, Xieng Khuang, Huaphan, Vientiane, Saravan, Savannakhet and Borikhamxay provinces applied for treatment. The Foundation provided free round trip transportation to Vientiane. It also provided food and accommodation while staying at the hospital since all patients were from poor ethnic groups from far away villages. Sixty-three urgent cases were selected for treatment and 98 surgical procedures were performed as several patients needed more than one surgery, particularly with burn contracture cases.
The Foundations also donated autoclave, laryngoscopes, surgical instruments, medicine and medical supplies to Mittaphab Hospital..
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In April 2007, while visiting Joey’s family in the province, we noticed that his sweet grandmother was having difficulty getting around as she could not see very well. We arranged a cataract surgery for her in September. Thanks to our assistant Sasithone who took good care of her, Joey’s grandmother has now recovered a perfect vision.
We met Ms Kamphor in Vientiane during our reconstructive surgery mission in January 2008. The poor seventy year old lady was hit by a run-away car six month earlier. Although the bones of her right leg were fractured and dislocated, she did not see a doctor during all this time because she could not afford medical care. We were happy to arrange for her surgery and provided her with a wheel chair as well. We expect that with our support for therapy she will soon be walking again.
