Dr. Armando Sardi of Mercy Medical Center is preparing for an important business trip to his home in Colombia, South America.
This business trip, though, involves providing free medical care to thousands of poor children and families in Cali, one of Colombia's largest cities.
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To volunteer your services or to donate to the Helping Hands Foundation:
» Visit www.thhfoundation.org
» Call 443-904-1630
» Send donations to 2213 E. Lombard St., Baltimore, MD 21231
Sardi, a surgical oncologist and director of the Institute for Cancer Care at Mercy, is organizing the trip. About 75 volunteer medical professionals -- many of them from Maryland -- will pay their way to Cali on Feb. 19 and offer their services for a week.
"It's getting together to do something good," said Sardi, who spent the first half of his life in Colombia. "That's a place where I grew up."
The medical professionals will work every day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seeing about 600 people a day, Sardi said. They'll be doing surgical procedures to correct cleft lips, cleft palates and hernias. They'll also provide OB/GYN, vision, dental and pediatric services and educational outreach to Cali's medical workers.
"Where we're going is one of the poorest places in Colombia, and it needs a lot of help," said Sardi, adding that the waiting list for child medical care is more than 400 children long. "People don't have health care, and they can't afford to go to a doctor."
Medical professionals from Mercy Medical Center, Greater Baltimore Medical Center, Union Memorial Hospital and the University of Maryland Medical Center are helping the mission, Sardi said.
The mission is being run by the Healing Hands Foundation, a Baltimore-based nonprofit that provides medical services to children around the world.
"We're trying to bring top-notch medical services to their people," said Marco Avila, executive director of the Healing Hands Foundation.
Avila said each mission costs about $50,000 to $100,000 to fund, with all of the equipment and medications that need to be shipped to the area where the mission occurs. The foundation is always looking for monetary donations and donations of toys or medications.
Sardi said it's a great honor to return to the area where he grew up and provide services to those in need. Sardi earned his M.D. in South America at the Universidad del Valle in Colombia.
"It's a very hands-on project," Sardi said.
