Vicki Bencken recalled the story of a 7-year-old girl in India who was born with a cleft lip and palate. She was often bullied at school and was too shy to engage with other students, her family said.
The girl saw a flyer for a free 'surgery camp' located about two hours away from her home, and asked her parents if they could go.
Now, thanks to volunteers from Rotaplast International, Sacramento-area Rotary clubs and UC Davis Health, the young girl is all smiles and enjoying friends and school after a successful surgery.
The team of volunteers provided care and surgical procedures for the young girl and 48 other patients in Nagamangala, India in December 2024.
"It was truly a moving experience," said Bencken, digital communications director in Public Affairs and Marketing at UC Davis Health. Bencken served as the historian for the trip. "This really demonstrated how UC Davis faculty, trainees, staff and alumni have a deep interest in bettering not only our region, but the world."
Rotaplast — the name is a hybrid of Rotary and plastic surgery — has been working to provide free surgical care to children born with cleft lips and palates as well as serious burn scars that affect movement for the past 32 years. The nonprofit assembles medical volunteer teams to help people around the world.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that occur when a baby's lip or mouth don't form properly. In developing countries, poverty and lack of prenatal care can increase the risk of these conditions.
The team that traveled to Nagamangala included 17 medical volunteers such as plastic surgeons, family practice physicians, anesthesiologists, nurses, a burn physical therapist and more. Ten non-clinical volunteers also joined the group, including seven from Sacramento-area Rotary clubs. Five of the volunteers had ties to UC Davis Health. They carried with them many boxes of medical supplies and worked out of a local hospital.
'Food for the soul'
Neal Fleming, a UC Davis Health cardiac anesthesiologist and professor emeritus, was on the trip to India. He made his first Rotaplast trip in 1999 and has been on 32 so far.
He set up a residency rotation plan for physicians to join the effort. So far, UC Davis Health anesthesia teams have contributed 101 faculty, 84 residents, and 37 CRNAs to Rotaplast projects throughout the world, he said. In addition, many UC Davis Health volunteers from other specialties have joined Rotaplast teams.
"Rotaplast is a gift. It provides me an opportunity to return the blessings I have received and to make a difference in our world," Fleming said.
He has witnessed many cases of Rotaplast changing lives.
"There was a young girl in Guatemala whose parents finally registered her birth after we repaired her facial cleft. And there was the smile on the grandmother who had never been kissed until after we repaired her cleft," Fleming said.
During the Nagamangala mission, 80 patients attended pre-clinic appointments with a nurse, pediatrician, surgeon, anesthesiologist, or burn physical therapist. Fleming and the Rotaplast volunteers performed surgery on 49 patients. They did 68 surgical procedures in all on a variety of conditions — burn scars, cleft lips, cleft palates, and noses, among others.
Rotaplast is a gift. It provides me an opportunity to return the blessings I have received and to make a difference in our world.-Neal Fleming, cardiac anesthesiologist
UC commitment to public service
Mia Christina Wright, an associate physician in family and community medicine who volunteered for the India trip, said the Rotaplast project shows how medical teams, residents and volunteers are committed to service, connection, and education.
"Rotaplast missions require you to put your own needs aside, whether it's accommodations or food selection or shower access. It shows that anyone who participates in these missions is capable of great empathy and cares deeply about others outside of their immediate world," she said
Rotaplast's mission is not only to perform needed surgeries, but to help train and educate residents from local universities and hospitals. Through its global scholars program, volunteers present lectures on key topics and residents shadow them as they work, strengthening the clinical care they will offer in the future.
Since the group returned from India in December, Fleming and another team of Rotaplast volunteers, including two UC Davis anesthesia residents and an operating room nurse, have gone to Bangladesh on another mission.
'Profound impact'
Rotaplast was founded in 1992 by plastic surgeon Angelo Capozzi and then-Rotary Club President Peter Lagarias in collaboration with the Rotary Club of San Francisco. The goal was to facilitate a surgical program in La Serena, Chile, to treat children with cleft lip and palate anomalies who would otherwise not receive surgical intervention. This initial mission took place in 1993. Since then, it has expanded to offer reconstructive surgeries to adults and children worldwide.
Fleming said UC Davis Health's "volunteer roots run deep."
It is not only anesthesiologists, he said, but also surgeons, surgical residents, operating room nurses, post-anesthesia care unit nurses and other providers who choose to help.
"Volunteers use personal vacation time to work with Rotaplast. For the anesthesiology residents, it has a profound impact on their practice. Faculty frequently comment how a resident has changed and matured dramatically after a Rotaplast trip."
In fact, Rotaplast now automatically schedules a UC Davis faculty member and UC Davis resident pair to be part of each mission team and they welcome more medical volunteers.
The team was so supportive and encouraging of each other. It epitomizes 'Believe in Better' - our guiding principle that highlights how all of us can do something to change lives.-Vicki Bencken, digital communications director
'Believe in Better'
Bencken, who volunteered for the mission through Rotary, said the patients and their families were very appreciative of the Rotaplast team in Nagamangala. "The gratitude was palpable."
She added that the teamwork among the volunteers was exceptional.
"The team was so supportive and encouraging of each other. It epitomizes 'Believe in Better' — our guiding principle that highlights how all of us can do something to change lives."
That initiative notes, "At UC Davis Health, we believe the ability to live a healthy life should be enjoyed by every person. That's why we're committed to inspiring better health for all, not just our patients."
