Healing Hands, Healing Lives
Featured article from Dr. Alolabi and the Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation.
I had the privilege of joining the Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation (GHHF) on a 12-day mission to Guatemala City for the second time in April 2018 (my first trip was in 2018). The foundation is dedicated to improving health care for children through education, therapy, and surgery. This was the group’s 12th mission of which 47 members participated in – medical volunteers included plastic and orthopaedic hand surgeons, anaesthesiologists, therapists, and nurses. The mission consisted of two parts, a community development project in the village of Chichoy Alto and the surgical/therapy part at the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center. For the past 13 years, the foundation has been addressing the substantial needs of the extremely impoverished village of Chichoy. Thousands of dollars and countless hours have been poured into various projects, the most significant of which has been building a school.
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- A woman holding a baby wearing a gray beanie and patterned outfit in an indoor setting.
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- A woman holding a baby and sitting with a child at a table, surrounded by people in a waiting area.
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- A large group of people posing for a group photo outdoors in front of a building and tropical plants.
The team at Helping Hands signs in new patients to receive free surgery for kids in need. Photos provided by The Touching Hands Project.
This year, roads leading up to the school were constructed and over 300 shoes and socks were donated. At the surgery center, over 145 patients were reviewed, 52 surgical cases were completed, and 78 patients received hand therapy. We treated patients with congenital hand anomalies, burns and other traumas to the hand and upper extremity while working alongside world renowned experts in these fields. This mission was a tremendously humbling and rewarding experience on multiple levels. I can’t wait to go back next year! If you would like to join us, volunteer opportunities could be found at The Guatemala Healing Hands Foundation.
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