BELIZE DENTAL CLINIC RENOVATION

LEAP funded the renovation of the dental clinic at Northern Regional Hospital, our partner hospital in Orange Walk, Belize, in memory of longtime LEAP volunteer Glenita Franklin. Glenita participated on several Belize missions as a dental hygienist and was instrumental in building our Belize dental program. $5,700 consisting of donations received in her memory and additional funding from ELAP enabled the renovation of the clinic and purchase of new dental equipment.

ZIMBABWE OPERATING ROOM EXPANSION

Harare Children’s Hospital in Zimbabwe has been our host hospital since 2009. It is one of only two pediatric hospitals in all of Zimbabwe, serving a population of approximately 16 million with only three operating room suites, one of which was funded by LEAP in 2014.

While the operating room LEAP funded offered significant relief to the 5-year backlog of pediatric patients, there is still a great need. Given the below benefits we’ve seen through the 2014 build, we sent funding for the hospital’s fourth operating room—the second to be directly funded by LEAP.

1. Improved Efficiency – The surgeons and nursing staff previously worked until midnight or 1 am to complete their daily surgeries. Now, surgeons and staff are usually able to complete a normal surgery day.

2. Elective Operations – Normally scheduled surgeries would be postponed due to emergencies, creating a huge backlog. Now, elective operations are no longer stopped, and emergencies take place in the third operating room.

3. Depleting The Backlog – As surgeons are able to plan and not be ‘waiting’ for an available operating room, they can now schedule and execute all pending surgeries.

This fourth operating room commemorates 10 years of partnership between Celebration Ministries International and LEAP Global Missions and will allow for many thousands of children to receive their needed surgeries much earlier. Over time, this gift will continue to benefit countless children over several generations. There is truly no better way for us to invest in our global future!

INDIA DENTAL CLINIC

At the end of 2017, LEAP received a request from Dr. Ajai Lall, founder of Central India Christian Mission (CICM), our host partner of 15 years located in Damoh, India—a very impoverished part of the country virtually untouched by development and modernization. In 2018, LEAP funded a 2,000 sq. ft. dental clinic as part of a large hospital expansion project currently underway that is expected to provide medical and surgical care to millions of people in the region. The dental clinic will have one operating room suite that will allow LEAP the opportunity to perform surgeries in the future.

LEAP travels to Damoh in partnership with CICM to provide plastic and general surgery and orthodontic care to children without access to these services locally. The LEAP team is usually met with hundreds of overjoyed patients who travel great distances to receive much-needed care.

• Honorary Expansion Project in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in 2016

• Operating room addition in Harare, Zimbabwe in 2014

• Education and expansion of plastic surgery and orthodontic programs in El Salvador in 2014

• Surgery facility in Damoh, India in 2009

• Multipurpose building (school, orphanage, and medical) on the border of Laos and Thailand

• Prosthetic clinic in Belize

• Free-standing medical clinic in Nuevo Progreso, Mexico in 2002