Bobby Satcher and D'Juanna White Satcher
April 2, 2000 6:14 PM Barcelona, Venezuela

Many mission volunteers give up a week of vacation with their families to travel with Operation Rainbow. Two doctors, however, have been able to make a commitment to the Venezuela mission while still spending time with their spouse. Dr. Bobby Satcher and Dr. D'Juanna White Satcher are husband and wife from the San Francisco Bay area who are both volunteering for this mission. He is an orthopaedic surgery resident and she is a pediatrician at a teaching hospital clinic. This is Bobby's second mission with Operation Rainbow after having traveled to Nicaragua in 1998. D'Juanna is on her first mission.

During a break, Bobby and D'Juanna review today's surgery schedule in the hallway of the operating suite.

Bobby became interested in international medicine when he was still in medical school. He served a four-month residency in Gabon in West Africa while studying internal medicine. He worked with an orthopaedic surgeon there and it strengthened Bobby's desire to also become an orthopaedic. He also saw the need for such skills in developing countries. "There was a tremendous lack of specialists in third-world countries," said Bobby.

Bobby evaluates a patient with club feet along site Venezuelan doctors prior to surgery.

On that trip and the Operation Rainbow missions Bobby has found that he has to deal with problems such as power and water outages; but, the language barriers are the most frustrating for him. To overcome some of that, he tries to spend time both before and after the surgeries visiting the patients and families. Despite the language problems, he finds that he and the families have very few differences. "There's a lot of commonality," he said.

Bobby prepares to make an incision on a patient's foot during Sunday's surgeries. This is one of 15 cases on the schedule.

D'Juanna knew Bobby during these earlier missions, but Venezuela is the first time they could travel together on a foreign project. Three days into this mission, she knows she will be on other missions in the future.

"The kids are just great. It's good to know that we are helping them," said D'Juanna. As a pediatrician, D'Juanna is able to experience all aspects of the mission. She assisted in prescreening patients, has worked with the children in pre-op, observed surgery, worked in the recovery room and visited patients on the ward after surgery. It is a full-circle involvement she seldom can experience. Both D'Juanna and Bobby are blessed with easy going, friendly personalities that make a mission like this a good experience for them. Their attitudes help them if things on the mission become difficult. "The key is adapting to whatever is dealt to you - being flexible, being available," says Bobby. "Anything you do is helpful." It also sounds like advice for a good marriage. D'Juanna gives some pain medicine in recovery.

D'Juanna, carries a patient scheduled for repair of two "club feet". The surgery is one of 13 completed by the Operation Rainbow surgical teams Saturday.

First Cases - Healing in Venezuela
April 1, 2000 6:03 PM Barcelona, Venezuela

In many of the surgical cases, Operation Rainbow doctors are working side by side with Venezuelan medical residents and doctors, helping them lean new skills and improve techniques learned during their education. [. . . read more . . . ]

First Looks - Assessing the need
April 1, 2000 9:20 AM Barcelona, Venezuela

The hallway in the basement of Dr. Luz Razetti hospital erupted into applause as the team of 20 volunteers from Operation Rainbow made their way to a small room which doubled as reception hall and assessment room. Waiting for the team were potential surgical patients and their families. The expectant looks from each expressed the hope that the visiting doctors, nurses, and lay volunteers would provide change in their lives by repairing the deformities and birth defects.
[. . . read more . . . ]

Delivering the instruments of change
March 31, 2000 6:44 PM Barcelona, Venezuela

Operation Rainbow's mission to Venezuela hit the ground at 8:54 PM Thursday local time, arriving at Simon Bolivar airport in Caracas. The team then transferred to a military C130 for a short flight to Barcelona, on the northern coast of Venezuela. [. . . read more . . . ]

The Universal Language of Caring
F.R. "Fritz" Nordengren - Project Producer

Welcome and thank you for taking time in your life to share the stories contained in this site. What you are reading is the result of work begun in August, 1999 in Armenia. During the mission there, the idea for this site was born.

Now, though the cooperation of the project sponsors, and my fellow producer Tom Burton, we are able to bring our work and the work of Operation Rainbow to you via the web.

This web site gives you, the reader, a chance to participate in a mission to heal children in Venezuela. While you may not be able to attend in person, what you will read here are the thoughts, reactions, and observations of the events, as they unfold. Once or twice each day, the project participants will publish new stories, photographs, and interviews with the team members, patients, and families making this project possible.

The people who you will meet and get to know come from a variety of backgrounds, nations, and families, yet all share a common language . . . the language of caring. We look forward to having you with us March 31, - April 8, 2000.