Morong, Philippines
Dr. Kolstad’s second mission to the Philippines brought him to Morong, a city near Manila, for a cleft lip and palate mission. Many of the patients were significantly older than those typically treated in the United States. In the U.S., cleft lips are often repaired around 10 weeks after birth, while cleft palate reconstruction is commonly performed at approximately 10 months of age. In Morong, however, visiting surgical missions were infrequent, and it was not uncommon to see teenagers and young adults living with severe untreated cleft deformities.
Many developing countries depend heavily on volunteer medical missions to provide specialized surgical care. Limited government funding, under-resourced hospitals, and financial hardship within families often make treatment inaccessible. What surprised Dr. Kolstad most was that every city he visited had local surgeons technically capable of performing these reconstructions. The challenge was not a lack of surgical skill, but the inability of many families to afford the operations. As a result, children often waited years for treatment until a volunteer mission group arrived to provide care free of charge.
