Farmington Hills Surgeon Treats Children During Kenya Mission Trip

Doctors with a successful medical mission to Kenya, including a surgeon who works in Farmington Hills, recently returned after having spent almost two weeks abroad. 

Upon their return, the group is already beginning to plan their next trip overseas on another mission to provide help to those who might otherwise not receive it.
 
Surgeons Dr. Matthew Rontal, a West Bloomfield resident, and Dr. Mehula Mehta of Birmingham were able to successfully perform 45 surgeries—mostly children—in the city of Kakamega, Kenya in Africa. Fox six days, the surgeons operated out the Kakamega Provicial General Hospital while other doctors and staff of 24 spent several days treating patients at outreach centers, totaling over 600, for the mission that left the country on June 6 and returned June 19.
 
“It was a truly amazing experience,” said Rontal, a facial and craniofacial reconstructive surgeon, practicing out of the Farmington Hills-based Rontal Akervall Clinic. “It was a great challenge with a great sense of satisfaction. The patients were very grateful—if a person gets sick there and have no resources, they might not get the help they need.”
 
Rontal working in partnership with Mehta, a local plastic and reconstructive hand surgeon, repaired cleft palates and performed surgeries on burned and deformed hands. The doctors were so committed to their mission that they operated during a rolling black out, using flashlights.
 
The surgeons were accompanied by additional doctors, nurses and other support staff, a travel team of 24, along with dozens of bags and boxes of supplies. "Everything you need in an operating room, except the bed,” said Rontal.
 
Upon their return, the group, ISMS Michigan—a subgroup of the International Surgical Mission Support group based in New York which fosters individual groups in organizing international medical missions—began discussing plans for future missions—when, where, fundraising, etc. The group’s team leader, Claire Mehta, a Birmingham resident and wife of Mehula Mehta, is in the planning stages to organize fundraisers for another mission, hopefully next year.
 
The recent trip was financed through donations, fundraising, the ISMS organization and personal funding. For more information about the ISMS or to donate to the Michigan team, visit ISMission.org.

Source: ISMission.org press release