Local Rotarians Take on Cleft Lips and Palates

San Rafael Evening and Terra Linda Rotarians have just raised $90,000 to sponsor a surgical mission to Apartadó, Colombia this coming July through an organization called Rotaplast International, Inc., (non-profit) in San Francisco. The team of 21 medical and 12 non-medical volunteers, 10 of whom are traveling from Marin, leave for Colombia on June 30, 2018. During this two-week mission, more than 100 children and adults will receive reconstructive surgery, and other care, for their cleft lip and palate defects.

The incidence of facial deformity is surprisingly high. Cleft lips/palates occur one in 650 births in the third world, one in 750 births world-wide, and one in 1,000 births in the US. Scientists believe the cause is related to a combination of heredity and environmental factors, such as lack of folic acid in the pre-natal diet, or exposure to environmental toxins. In developed nations, the repair is done in infancy, but in many countries the families cannot bear the expense or the care is not available at all.

Repair of a cleft lip or palate is one of the most powerful, life-changing gifts that a child or a family can receive. Without repair, a child with a cleft is doomed to shame, isolation, life-long health issues including malnutrition, and closed doors in their community. Proper and timely surgery by a skilled and dedicated team gives the child a “normal” face and opens those doors forever.

Dr. Anne DeLaney, of Lagunitas, a recently retired (from Kaiser) plastic surgeon, is Medical Director of the mission. She has served on 16 of these missions all over the world. “I do this because I can make such an enormous difference in someone’s life, that I can’t imagine not doing it.” She expects to serve the global community as long as she can. She will be off to Myanmar right after the Colombia mission.