John McCoy from the Broomhall Rotary Club Presentation on Rotaplast

We were privleged to have John McCoy from the Broomhall Rotary Club

who spoke to us about  Rotaplast.

Rotaplast International, Inc., founded by

Dr. Angelo Capozzi

is committed to helping children and families worldwide by eliminating the burden of cleft lip and/or palate, burn scarring, and other deformities.  Working with local professionals, Rotarians, and other organizations, Rotaplast sends multidisciplinary medical teams to provide free reconstructive surgery, ancillary treatment, and training for the comprehensive care of these children.  Rotaplast supports education and research towards prevention of cleft lip and/or palate. Our aim is to help local professionals build sustainable models for the care of these children, improving their lives and those of their families.

Rotaplast will employ the following strategies to reach this goal:

Facilitate medical missions to provide surgical intervention for children who are not able to receive treatment or who are in need of more complicated medical procedures than can be provided by local physicians.

Counsel families about ways of reducing the incidence cleft palate anomalies through diet, vitamin supplementation, and lifestyle changes.

Collaborate with local health professionals on follow-up care and on development of comprehensive cleft palate programs where feasible.

Learn about the incidence and causes of cleft lip and palate anomalies, including both genetic and environmental factors.

Educate local physicians and specialists by urging them to work with our teams to broaden their skills in treating cleft anomalies.

Foster international goodwill and fellowship by working with Rotarians as well as with health officials in host countries.

John augmented his presentation with a moving PowerPoint presentation about his 2019 mission to Monrovia, Liberia

where Rotarians, acting as non-medical asistants, traveled with more than a dozen volunteer doctors and nurses to provide FREE reconstructive cleft lip and cleft palate surgery.  This visit was coordianted and supported by three Liberian Rotary Clubs.

Anecdotally, when local Liberian citizens saw the word "free" on the (above) poster, they overwhelmend St. Joseph Catholic Hospital, where the surgery was to be preformed in just two operating beds, by parents with children and other adults with a host of maladies; including some with significant keloid isuses, some of which were repaired. 

During thier misison some 78 cleft lip and cleft palate procedures were preformed … mostly on young patients.

Interestingly the hospital had recently reopened after three years … which resulted from the ebola crisis in Liberia during which it was closed.

In 2020, another mission is scheduled for March 15-29 in Chitwan, Nepal. 

As these misisons are costly, $80,000 to $120,000 each fund raising is critical.

The Club warmly thanked John for his time and presentation.