A plan by medical professionals to travel to Africa to perform free surgeries for those in need could go awry without financial help. As part of the charity Project Change Bermuda, doctors, nurses and supporting medical staff are planning to travel to Burundi, Africa, to perform free reconstructive surgery on persons who would otherwise be forced to go through life deformed.

Headed by plastic surgeon Christopher Johnson, the organisation has helped improve the lives of indigent persons in Ecuador, Tanzania, Kenya and Bermuda since its creation in 2004. For this coming trip however, the group is anticipating a $60,000 shortfall will make it difficult, if not impossible, for some of those with the necessary expertise to make the journey.

Those involved with Project Change Bermuda are responsible for their own travel costs and also for any medical supplies as the countries they typically visit do not have adequate.

Said nurse Erin Tarleton: "In addition to each person paying $5,000 – which covers flight and accommodation – we have to supply all of the medical equipment such as sutures, swabs, etc. The medical supplies alone would be about $20,000.

"I went with Dr. Johnson on his mission to Ecuador. There, we started a clinic. When we got there, there was no running water, no medical gasses and no working oxygen.

"We had to call a local plumber to set every thing up. In the place were the sink was set, there was just a hole. It was a mess, but we set up a whole operating room there."

Over that ten-day stay, Ms Tarleton said, she and the team performed 50 operations.

As explained by the nurse, shipping costs for the equipment run high however the charity benefited from a generous subsidy from American Airlines on its trek to the South American nation.

"For many of the missions, Dr. Johnson would pay thousands of dollars to get the equipment to the countries but when we went to Ecuador, American Airlines was so great. They didn't charge us baggage for our equipment, so that helped a lot.

"And whatever supplies we didn't use over there, we just left there for them to use so it helped with the expenses coming back."

The group travelled to Tanzania earlier this year.

Ms Tarleton said children particularly benefited from that visit, where they doctors were able to perform reconstructive surgery on cleft lip palates, burn victims, persons with tumours and those born with deformities.

The hope is to open two clinics while in Burundi. Located in central Africa, bordered by Rwanda and Tanzania, the country, "is very similar to Rwanda, in terms of genocide and other political hardship," Dr. Johnson explained. "The country has been destroyed by civil war and there are no doctors, no schools. It's terrible."

Ms Tarleton said she enjoyed going to Ecuador as it gives her great satisfaction to see that she has helped someone and for that reason is really looking forward to the trip to Burundi.

"It is one of the most valuable experiences anyone could have. The patients come back two days after surgery for a follow-up. When I would see them there would be a huge satisfying feeling," she said.

The group is now in the process of raising the expenses needed to make the trip to Burundi as successful as their previous ones. Letters have gone out to companies as part of an appeal, while a number of fund-raising events have also been held. Said Dr. Johnson: "We recently had a gala event at the Elbow Beach Hotel where the theme was 'Casablanca'. Guests were dressed as characters from the movie. It was great.

"We had people dressed up as Humphrey Bogart, we had a Moroccan theme going on and we played the movie all night."

This event raised nearly $25,000, he said.

Dr. Johnson added: "We are planning to have another gala event in March, this time featuring actress Tachina Arnold. It will be an evening of music."

He mentioned that are also plans for a tag day in the new year and that the public could also do its part by donating necessary items such as Children's Tylenol, Children's Motrin, diapers, baby wipes, formula, Huber bottles (special bottles for cleft lip patients), blankets, and small toys such as stuffed animals.

They are also looking for volunteers to help with other fund-raisers such as car washes and trash-a-thons. Continued Dr. Johnson: "We would appreciate if people could help out in anyway they can. We like to use the saying 'We are changing the world one surgery at a time'."

For more information on Project Change visit www.internationalplasticsurgery.org or telephone 292-2000.