Justin Curtin is one of the surgeons of Operation Sunrise, and recently sent this to me. What more could anyone say – encapsulates our experience beautifully !

Dear Team members of Operation Sunrise 2007

A tribute to the people who make up the Team :

– that over an intense 9 days there is hardly a word spoken in anger or spite – tiredness and frustration at wanting things to be better maybe,

– that people who have not worked with each other for almost two years can just pick up where they were,

- that those who had not been on such a trip before jumped right , , , and swam, (mostly)

- that those who wondered, ‘what can I do’ , , , were so gainfully busy, and exhausted,

That people can come together, focus, harmonise and put the efforts of our individual selves towards something greater than we can achieve alone.

Without the efforts and talents of each person the goal would not be the same.

Wasn’t it a blast ?

Thank you, all

Justin

Justin Curtin
MB BS, BDS,
FRACDS, FFD RCSIr., FRACDS(OMS), FRCSEd.

The Operation Sunrise 2007 China Mission

Look for additional images of the 2007 China Mission at http://cleftgallery.cleftmission.org

Surgeons
HOWARD K. USA
TIM M. USA
CRAIG B. USA
JUSTIN C. AUSTRALIA
DAVID K. USA

Anesthesia
CRAIG N. USA
PETER M. USA
GARY T. AUSTRALIA
MARK C. USA
JOAN H. USA

Anesthesia RN
MELANIE C. AUSTRALIA

Pediatrician
RENEE H. USA

Patient Coordinator (Ward)
VAL S-0. AUSTRALIA

OR Nurses
MARY H. USA
DANIELLE L. USA
CINDY W. USA
SUSAN B. USA
YIPPI Y. USA

Recovery
JAMES H. AUSTRALIA
MAUREEN W. AUSTRALIA
TIFFANY W. USA

OR Techs
NEIL J. USA
SHARON M. USA
JILL I-B. USA

Ward Team
SHIRLEY R. AUSTRALIA
ELAINE B. AUSTRALIA
LAURA A. USA
HONG MEI K. AUSTRALIA
JIM B. USA

Dental Team
NORMAN C. USA
GREGORY C. USA

Administrative Team
WALTER W. USA
HEATHER B. USA
PENNEY M. USA
ANN K. USA
ANITA L. USA
WASHINGTON W. USA

Other Valuable Team Members
BRIANNA L. USA
HANG Y-C
YUN P-Z
SU Y
CHANG H

As we usually do, our last night was spent hosting a farewell party that included the Mayor of Linyi City, Director of Linyi City People’s Hospital, Chair of Surgery, Linyi Hospital physicians, nursing and OR staff and of course our own team members. Much toasting and of course the obligatory Karaoke rounded out a very festive evening complete with Walter’s polished version of “My Way” (wherein he substituted in “…we did it OUR way” !!), Heather’s striking rendition of Tammy Wynette “Stand by Your Man”, and the Australian team well rehearsed Australian anthem (complete with iPOD accompaniment). A nice addition to the evening was the recognition of three team members September birthdays – complete with gigantic birthday cakes and a resounding sing-a-long of “Happy Birthday”.

After the party, many of us returned to our rooms to repack, while others continued the celebration. The next morning we sadly boarded the bus for the three-hour return trip to Qingdao to make the connecting flight to Hong Kong. That morning we were honored to have members of the hospital staff, our new friends with whom we worked so closely over the past week, see us off from the hotel.

Operation Sunrise was able to successfully complete over 80 procedures on the children of Linyi City, Shandong Province, providing cleft lip and palate repair.

I look forward to the possibility of working again with the staff of Linyi Hospital and others like them in the future, who know no bounds of what an international team can do to improve the lives of those so disadvantaged.

Howard S. Kotler, MD, FACS
Director of Surgical Services
Operation Sunrise

One aspect of a mission like this is with the variety of people working in different areas, you often are never able to get acquainted everyone during the 12 days of the mission. Mostly, you get to know well your immediate colleagues with whom you spend the most time (in my case in the OR or ward personnel).

Otherwise, you only have the opportunity to share ideas with others during the short time you may see them during the day, because by the time we finish and get back to the hotel and eat dinner, it’s time to sleep and prepare for the next day. This is then repeated over and over until the mission’s end. In past missions we had one day off mid-week that allowed for more social interaction but on this short mission, we didn’t have the time

to do so. I hope that this lack of a break won’t deter some of the first-time team members from future involvement. Hopefully, on the next mission we’ll plan for a one-day break of R&R.