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Every year thousands of children in Mexico are born with disfiguring cleft lip and/or palate deformities and have no financial means to pay for corrective surgery. As a plastic surgeon and a 25-year volunteer member of the Mercy Outreach Surgical Teams (MOST) in San Diego, I have been to Mexico many times on seven-day, biannual visits with medical volunteer teams from the United States to operate on such children. Our 40 member groups have always developed a close relationship with local Rotarian sponsors in each community we visit, and I have met and worked with Mexican plastic surgeons who are doing similar volunteer surgery in their own communities.
When we temporarily had to suspend our trips because of COVID in 2020, we began to work with some local Mexican surgeons and Rotary clubs to create 3-day surgical clinics, wholly staffed by highly trained and vetted and trusted local surgeons and anesthesiologists. Because of these close personal relationships, we have had overwhelmingly positive results with this model, having now directed five such clinics, as exemplified in the attached PowerPoint presentation (see attached).
We are planing another $12,000 project with the MOST team in September 2026.
My La Jolla Golden Triangle Club has pledged $3000 for the project (2025-26) and we are asking for a $3000 District match for a total of $6,000. When combined with a similar $2800 District Grant with the Binghampton Club in New York (estimated), and additional financial support from Mercy Outreach Surgical teams, a total of $12,000 can fund a 3 day, locally staffed clinic to provide surgical and postoperative care for approximately 20 needy Mexican children.
With this model, the previous average cost per patient has been ~$700 which is an incredible bargain for such a life-changing experience for these children and their families.
C Dennis Bucko, M.D.
03/4/25
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