Mission

WE MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Mission

 

  • Upcoming February 2024 Mission

    We are currently preparing for the mission that will take place in February 2024. It is a surgical mission that will take place at the Julia Hospital in Jamkhed. Over the past year, we have medically assessed hundreds of people, from which we have selected 150. Last November, we held our benefit dinner, which sponsored all the patients.

 

Past Missions

Here are our teams in action

  • Suyagya Vasishta Arya Mission 2023 – FFPF Mission February 2023

    After the spread of the Covid-19 disease, which started in early 2021, three surgical missions had to be cancelled. The funds that had been earmarked for these missions were used to provide the village of Jamkhed with materials for the prevention and treatment of Covid-19: oxygen, intravenous drugs, masks, and facilities for quarantine. The houses in the rural villages are very small and have only one room, so isolation is impossible.

    Thanks to the funds the Freedom from Poverty Foundation raised during the November 2022 fundraising dinner, 3 humanitarian surgery missions have been carried out. Indeed, our surgical camps resumed this year after a 2-year break following the Covid. In February, 11 professionals from the greater Montreal area went to Jamkhed, India.

    All our camps are held at Julia’s Hospital in Jamkhed, Maharashtra. Several hundred people have undergone surgery. The surgeries we do (perform or execute) help change the future of these people.

    For example, they can walk or regain the use of a hand lost in an accident.

    In addition, our pharmacists have worked with village pharmacists to improve the management of high-risk medicines to create algorithms and carts for using medicines in emergencies.

    We performed mostly orthopedic surgeries with the aim of restoring a person’s functionality to break the cycle of poverty.

    Here are the members who participated in the February 2023 mission:

    In February 2022, The Freedom from Poverty Foundation sent our mission to the village of Jamkhed. We sent sixteen professionals from Montreal.

    The team scheduled for February 2023

    Bruno Mastropasqua Surgeon
    Dr Jason Anaesthesiologist
    Dr. Dwivedi Anaesthesiologist
    Nathalie Deichendes Nurse
    Alex Somma Communications
    Sabrina Sanzari Pharmacist
    Claudine levesque Coordonnateur
    Vinod Dargan Project Manager
    Geneviève côté: Anaesthesiologist
    Nathalie Brisebois: Occupational Therapist
    Michelle Bonapathie Résident

 Past mission February 2020

 

In February, we sent Sixteen professionals from Montreal, Quebec, and a team from Australia consisted of an orthopedist and a communications officer, which allowed us to perform 64 surgeries. Our team focused on orthopedic surgeries, restoring persons’ functionality and breaking the cycle of poverty.

Unfortunately, the covid-19  pandemic forced us to cancel three missions. We redirected funds initially earmarked for these missions towards covid-19 prevention and treatment equipment for the village of Jamkhed: oxygen, intravenous medication, mask, and quarantine facilities. 

In rural villages’ homes are small and have only one room, so isolation is impossible. 

The following are the members who participated in the February 2020 mission:

Bruno Mastropasqua Surgeon
Guy Grimard Surgeon
Nicolas Hamelin Surgeon
Mylène Servant Anesthésiste
Dr. Dwivedi Anesthésiste
Serge Gilbert Anesthésiste
Lucie Demers Nurse
Danielle Despres Nurse
Alex Somma Communications
Suzanne Mathieu Nurse
Luce Plamandon Inhalo therapist
Sabrina Sanzari Pharmacist
Claire Deschamps Dentist
Hussein Assi Interne
Pascale Grimard Externe
Vinod Dargan Project manager

2018

Mission Feb 21st to 29th

December 2018, camps took place at the Julia Hospital in Jamkhed. Over the past year, we performed the medical evaluation of hundreds of people, from which we selected 150 patients judged to be the highest priority.

2017

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation donated specialized medical equipment to the Julia Hospital in Jamkhed for procedures specific to the needs of the population. For example, a Dermatome was donated so that skin grafts can be performed on people who have suffered from large burns. The sterilization room was also updated thanks to donations of equipment from the Foundation.

The community of Jamkhed demonstrated their immense gratitude to the Freedom from Poverty Foundation. Many of the patients who received operations in 2016 were waiting for us at the Julia Hospital to express their thanks for the major change we have made in their lives.

A total of 3 surgical missions took place in 2017 and 224 patients received operations. The Freedom from Poverty Foundation funded the Italian, Australian and Quebec surgical missions.

2016

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation performed its first surgical mission. A team of specialists from Montreal provided care to 77 patients, performing mainly orthopedic operations and scar contracture release with skin grafts. The operations were performed on people with one or more handicaps, from birth or the result of an accident, that have kept them dependent or unable to work. A team of medical students provided the postoperative care. They worked by video conference with an occupational therapist in Montreal, Ms. Brisebois.

Patients receiving operations: 77

A total of 2 surgical missions took place in 2016.

2014

Many healthcare professionals (surgeons, anaesthesiologists and nurses) approached the Freedom from Poverty Foundation to provide their expertise for the creation of surgical missions. We began to prepare for the first surgical missions: financial planning, logistics, medication and operating equipment.

2015

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation donated medicine and medical supplies to prepare the operating rooms for future surgical missions. It also organized the logistics for the surgical missions with surgeons and healthcare professionals from different countries: Montreal, Canada; Milan, Italy; and Canberra, Australia.

2013

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation provided funding for a program that trained workers in the community in the construction cement houses. The formwork technology introduced in 2011 is still used today.

2012

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation provided funds for the production of artificial legs. The Jaipur Foot is a prosthesis made locally and adapted to rural life. In 2014, 400 artificial legs were produced.

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation sent a team for a cataract surgeries mission. The mission was led by Dr. Fortin, an ophthalmologist from Montreal.

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation provided funding for a pre and post-natal education program to provide information to women in the community of Jamkhed in pregnancy monitoring. The program was led by the nurse, Marie-Josée Lévesque and the videographer, Brigitte Breault. This program helped improve the education program.

2009-2011

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation, in partnership with companies from Quebec, Canada, donated formwork panels and passed on their expertise in sustainability. A team from Quebec provided training to members of the Jamkhed community in the construction of new homes. The Jamkhed community now possesses the knowledge and technology needed for the construction of new homes.

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation provided the funding to train social workers in the village. Women and newborn health was one of the key themes of this mission. The social workers are essential for the accessibility of health care as they provide primary care.

1988-2008

The Freedom from Poverty Foundation built a school that provides primary and secondary education from which over 10,000 students have since graduated. The Foundation also introduced technology into its programs, making computers are available to the students. Mobile clinics were created and have treated over 60,000 patients. Many medicals missions have taken place including cataract surgery in partnership with the Eye Foundation of America.