Wayne Kauffman and his wife, middle, with Natalie and her parents. Rotary connections helped Natalie get surgery to repair a problem with her heart.
By Wayne Kauffman, Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview, Alberta, Canada
Esperanza is the Spanish word for “hope.” When I think about what motivates me to serve as a Rotary Foundation chair for my district, I am drawn to this word, which is the name of one of our recent projects. To me, hope is really at the core of our Rotary Foundation.
Our Esperanza project is in its 20th year, and sends Canadian medical and dental teams to provide vocational training and medical care to the people of Cuenca, Ecuador. It is led by Dr. Tom Greidanus, a member of the Rotary Club of Edmonton Riverview.
The teams train and mentor orthopedic surgeons, physiotherapists, nurses, dentists and dental students. They:
Educate parents and family members on proper care of infants and children to avoid preventable hip problems
Provide hip and knee replacements to approximately 40 impoverished adults from the region
Give pediatric orthopedic surgeries to about 15 children to correct hip and leg deformities
Provide patients with dental screening and care, if needed, and follow-up care for patients from previous years
Provide dental care and …read more
Source:: Rotary International Blog
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.