Essential Strides: Global Reconstructive Surgery

Essential Strides is a global health organization founded by Dr. Lauren Molchan DPM and Dr. Kevin Blue DPM of the Denver area. We aim provide lower extremity reconstructive surgical services and education to a global community. Our first trip is scheduled for this July 14-26, 2022, to Moyobamba, Peru.

 

The purpose of this trip is to treat an underserved, indigenous community of people living out of reach and without resources for healthcare needs. We will primarily be treating children with congenital disabilities or neglected trauma resulting in poor to no ambulation ability. Our goal is to restore pain-free gait in this population. We will be seeing up to 24-28 patients. In addition, we will be conducting an educational component where we will lecture and educate any providers in the area for the follow-up to further the longevity of our care.

 

We are responsible for purchasing all the required surgical tools and postoperative supplies, such as antibiotics, walking aids, and bandage supplies the patients may need afterward. We also would like to like make a lasting contribution to the Yantalo clinic in Moyobamba by providing equipment and renovations they require such as: repairing x-ray equipment, repairing anesthesia machines, and providing more patient beds. Additionally, we plan on providing wages to local Peruvian workers aiding our mission. Therefore, any donations would be applied to these costs and necessary supplies to make our trip successful. We are passionate about this project and plan to make this an annual trip. Any donations more significant than our goal will be applied to future trips.

 

We are working on building our website and will continue to add updates there. I will copy the link here when it is made available. We will post photos and details of the trip afterward as well.

 

Estimation of costs:

Transportation / Shipping of Supplies: $10,000

Surgical tools: $30,000
Wages for staff helping in Peru: 
Upkeep of facilities in Peru: we plan on returning annually and the clinic is in need of repairs. The x-ray machine and OR beds are in poor repair and we would like to fix these equipment issues to ensure success of our care: $12,000

Post operative care packages for patients: $5,000

Education costs: $5000