Incredible cases: mostly burns and tumors — the kind of burns we have never seen before. Eighty percent of the people in the Kisumu area (population 5 million) have no electricity or running water. There are no nannies. The kids are left alone to fend for themselves so burns from fires, candles, petrol explosions, etc. are common. The people have little choice of what clothes to wear and little to eat. In fact, we mainly ate skinny chicken and rice. A lot of the children’s clothes were covered in holes. I gave away everything I had: my crocs, scrubs, health bars, pens, t-shirts, etc. and I gave my sneakers to a man who told me they were the first pair of sneakers he ever had. The Kenyan people are proud and beautiful. In the hospital there was four people to every bed, rarely any sheets and the families were still smiling. Equipment Sponsor: Leica Cameras
Writing as the official photographer for ISMS Operation Kids, I am proud to say that our recent trip to Kenya was, in my opinion, the team’s most successful mission to date. 86 complex surgeries were performed with great success and 300 children were seen and treated in our mobile clinics. In addition to the care provided, the local doctors and nurses worked side by side with the OpKids team eager to learn new ways to improve their current practice. Most of the equipment and supplies were donated by ISMS Operation Kids.
After four missions with OpKids, I feel more comfortable. It is such an intense week together that we become very close on these trips. We work 13-15 hours a day for a week and everyone is volunteering their time. I feel that these doctors are the true artists and I just document their work.