Ethiopia Mission Trip
Children from all around the world come to the Colorectal Center for Children at Cincinnati Children’s to see our director, Alberto Peña, MD, and our associate director, Marc Levitt, MD. But in February 2009, Levitt and a team of colleagues from Cincinnati Children’s did their own world traveling as part of a mission trip to Africa to provide up to 50 colorectal surgeries for children in need.
From February 21-28, 2009, Dr. Levitt and his team conducted surgeries and provided training for local surgeons at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia. Their host, Dr. Miliard Derbew, a pediatric surgeon himself, is the dean of their medical school.
Mission Team Members
Members of the team from Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center included:
- Marc Levitt, MD, Associate Director – Colorectal Center for Children
- Cathy Bauer, RN, registered nurse
- Sara Metz, colorectal operating room technicians
- Alicia Davis, registered nurse
- Julie Guttman, registered nurse
- Tim Lee, MD, pediatric surgery fellow
- Akilah Weber-Lashore, MD, adolescent gynecology fellow
- Leslie Ayensu-Coker, MD, attending from adolescent gynecology
- Anna Varughese, MD anaesthesiologist
- Sean Barclay, nurse anesthetist
The Smile Train Support
An $18,000 Treatment & Education grant from The Smile Train charity covered the team's transportation costs. The Smile Train, which has provided free cleft lip and palate surgery and related treatment for over 340,000 children around the world, is expanding its support to help finance other needed surgeries in developing countries.
According to Dr. Levitt, the Colorectal Center’s mission of training surgeons in the host country to provide better care for future patients was in line with The Smile Train’s mission; therefore, the collaboration with Cincinnati Children’s was ideal. In addition, the charity provides free cleft-related training for doctors and medical professionals.
Learn more about the Colorectal Center for Children at Cincinnati Children's.
