Women to the Rescue: All Girl Medical Missions -- Smart Move

Friday, May 22, 2009

WOMEN ON A MISSION: Women for World Health, Inc., is a nonprofit group dedicated to improving the lives of people living in impoverished areas of the world. They focus on the health care needs of individuals in developing nations and provide health care through volunteer medical missions. Co-founders Denise Cucuny, an anthropologist, and Dr. Amy Wandel, a retired U.S. Navy plastic surgeon, have 30 years of combined experience working in poor countries helping improve others lives. The organization is run by women, but is not limited to women's issues. "Being an all-woman team has opened doors for us, even where there could be some resistance at first," Cucurny was quoted as saying. "People feel that we are good ambassadors, that they can trust us to do the right thing."

CHANGING LIVES: The group covers a wide range of medical specialties, including plastic/reconstructive surgery, general surgery, OB-gyn, pediatrics, ophthalmology, dentistry, dermatology, wound care and internal medicine. Women for World Health conducts one or two missions every year, depending on the need and cost of each mission. To date, they have been on four missions to El Salvador, Laos and two trips to Ecuador. "This completes us as medical professionals," Dr. Wandel was quoted as saying. "The work we do on these missions is the essence of why we all went into medicine." Each trip lasts about a week. Hundreds of patients are seen during that time and around 70 procedures are performed. "I would take these little children from their parents and repair their cleft lip," Dr. Wandel said on the Women for World Health Web site. "Most of these children were looked upon as a curse laid upon their family for past sins. The children were hidden away. But even more moving for me was that I was making it possible for them to rejoin their world."

A portion of their trips is also dedicated to providing individuals with the knowledge to maintain good health. Team members educate mothers and other community members on nutrition, hygiene, prenatal care, dental hygiene, medical and dental preventative measures and the dangers of environmental pollutants. Cucurny hopes her organization will eventually help those in the United States who don't have health insurance.

If you would like more information, please contact:

Women for World Health, Inc., (714) 717-5171