It is day one in Guyana and the team has hit the ground running! Back in 2023, Guyana stood out as one of our most exciting stories of the year.
The Government of Guyana signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Gift of Life International to conduct three training visits per year, fully funded by the government. This marked our first partnership with a government that has committed so fully to developing a sustainable pediatric cardiac program. We are now extremely excited to carry this through into 2024 with our second visit of the year! Be sure to learn more about how we are healing little hearts in Guyana.
None of this would have been possible without the support from our donations. We thank you for helping us change the lives of these children.
We would also like to give a big thank you to our global network of partners and the Government of Guyana. Your unwavering support and dedication have been crucial in paving the way for a sustainable pediatric cardiac program in Guyana. Together, we are creating a brighter, healthier future for countless children in need!
The Visit Begins: Rajdai’s Journey of Resilience
Some of the team ran into a bit of trouble and delays on their travels here, but almost everyone has finally arrived and the Guyanese visiting and local teams are ready to start the week strong and get the ball rolling on helping little hearts in this part of the world!
Today we will only be having one surgery because of the delays during travel, which caused some of the team and supplies to be a day late arriving in Guyana.
The surgery done today will be an ASD (atrial septal defect) procedure. An ASD is a hole in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart, and is repaired by performing open-heart surgery to place a patch over the hole!
Pictured: Kaitlyn, Rajdai, and Lerin (left to right)
Our patient today is Rajdai! At first, Rajdai was super shy but after some warming up she was a chatterbox! Rajdai is seventeen years old and going into her last year of high school. Her father, Teramreg, works in a lumber yard. Her mother is not in the picture, and Rajdai is currently living in an orphanage.
Although her father still shows up to support her at the hospital everyday he can when he does not have to be at work. She lives here in Georgetown, Guyana, just a few blocks away from the hospital so she and her father were able to walk here from the orphanage. Rajdai has three older brothers that are twenty, twenty-two, and twenty-four, making her the baby of the family.
When speaking with her today, Rajdai told us her favorite foods are chicken and chips, which I am sure a lot of us can relate to! Rajdai also said her favorite hobby right now is sleeping. Upon further investigation, we realized that she enjoys sleeping so much because her condition makes her extremely tired all the time.
It’s hard for Rajdai to enjoy certain normalities of being so young because her heart is not working the way it is supposed to. That is what Gift of Life International is here to help heal!
We were sure to let her know that after her surgery, she will be feeling back to normal and want to be outside, playing sports, or just hanging out with her friends every day rather than sleeping all the time.
After some time spent getting to know Rajdai, she had some questions for us in return. Rajdai wanted to ask our surgeons what exactly they were going to be doing for her, and asked Dr. Clark to explain the procedure. Dr. Clark quickly retrieved a pen and a piece of paper and got to work drawing diagrams and talking Rajdai through her whole surgery.
Rajdai is extremely courageous, and we are so grateful and lucky to be aiding her on this journey to health!
Dr. Brian Clark (surgeon) explains the details of the procedure Rajdai will be having to her and her father, Teramreg.
Preparing for the Week Ahead
We also finished screening the rest of the patients today to see who is eligible for surgery this week!
Dr. Beckett Mahnke and Jill Inafuku screening one of the children today. In this picture you can see Dr. Mahnke and Inafuku reviewing an echocardiogram of one of the children.
The team did six screenings yesterday and five today! Screenings for every trip are a crucial time for the patients and doctors. The screenings allow the doctors to see the severity of the patients’ conditions, as well as make sure all of the children are healthy enough for their procedures.
Pictured: Daniel and Martina.
Daniel and Martina are a son and mother who made a two hour journey from Mahaicony, Guyana to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation in order to be screened and selected for a life-saving heart procedure. Daniel and his mother will return later in the week for surgery!
Out of the eleven children screened between today and yesterday, only nine will be chosen to receive procedures.
After finishing up screenings and preparing for the first surgery of the week, the team had time to debrief with each other to make sure we are all ready for the week ahead.
Dr. Soto spoke with both the local and visiting teams to debrief with them and confirm everyone on every team is ready for the week and prepared with the correct supplies they need.
The optimism and determination were palpable in the air as everyone confirmed they were prepared and eager to begin this week’s journey of healing little hearts.
Some of the new members of our team also got a tour of the hospital from one of the local nurses!
It was nice to see what else the hospital has to offer and get outside for a second!
Our team has defeated adversity and in spite of airline and weather troubles has persevered! The first full day here in Guyana was inspiring and has set a bright and hopeful tone for the rest of the week.
Brenda Small is the Operations Consultant at Gift of Life International. She assumed this role in 2012.
Brenda was inspired to help children in need with heart disease after her third child was born with a complex heart defect and underwent successful open-heart surgery in her first year of life. Brenda learned of Gift of Life International in 2006 at which time she established Gift of Life Los Angeles where she holds the position of President. Between 2008 and 2012, Brenda volunteered her time to help with Gift of Life International in addition to running Gift of Life Los Angeles.
From 2012 to 2022, Brenda held the position of Director of Operations for Gift of Life International. Today, she continues this lifesaving work as Operations Consultant. Brenda also implemented the Nutritional Program in El Salvador in 2008 which has now provided nutritional support to more than 250 children and their families. Brenda has traveled with many of the Gift of Life training teams and witnessed these precious lives being saved.
