Home > Profile > Face to Face

FACE TO FACE

November 2008 - 14TH MISSION TO EKATERINBURG, RUSSIA

Treating One Face at a Time, One Child at a Time. To learn more please visit our foundation website WWW.THECANADIANFOUNDATION.COM.

Having volunteered many hours of his time and unique talents, Dr. Adamson has played a significant role in the development and continuing success of FACE TO FACE - a program that provides international humanitarian assistance to impoverished children suffering from congenital or traumatic facial deformities.

Since 1992 surgeons from the AMERICAN ACADEMY OF FACIAL PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY (AAFPRS) have travelled to 15 countries including China, Mexico, Honduras, Croatia, Belize and Russia. They have shared their skills with local surgeons and nurses to manage cases and create a lasting impact on the communities they've served.

Through these collaborative surgical interventions, the FACE TO FACE program has given hope to countless children who would otherwise have faced a much more uncertain future because of their deformities. Many of these children, in fact, are even reclaimed by their parents and orphans adopted, so corrective surgery is seen as the first step towards helping these innocent youngsters advance towards leading normal, productive lives.

MAKING A DIFFERENCE, ONE LIFE AT A TIME.
	Having made 17 humanitarian visits to Russia between 1994 and 2008, Dr. Adamson travels every year with AAFPRS surgeons to Ekaterinburg to operate on children, teach local surgeons new skills and work with the AAFPRS collaborating partner, the Bonum Center. Founded in 1956, the Bonum Center facility consists of four separate plants: hospital, kindergarten, school and camp.
	Inspirational success stories are one of the most rewarding aspects of this program for Dr. Adamson. For example, after being shot in the face in war-torn Chechnya, one 15-year-old girl was treated by AAFPRS surgeons who helped rebuild her facial bones and revise her scars. Another 7-year-old Russian boy had been give up as a baby since a rat had bitten off his nose. A team of AAFPRS and Russian surgeons worked side by side to sculpt and graft a new nose for him. The technical knowledge shared with Russian surgeons also provided them with additional skills to better care for other children suffering similar deformities. As Dr. Adamson says, FACE TO FACE has changed this boy's life forever, giving him the opportunity to be a contributing and accepted member of his family and community.
	Dr. Adamson's passionate commitment to FACE TO FACE has played a large role in his ongoing efforts to strengthen the Foundation's financial security, enabling programs to grow and flourish as FACE TO FACE continues to serve those in need around the world.
	In supporting international humanitarian programs like FACE TO FACE, The Canadian Foundation for Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery promotes the relief and treatment of physical disfigurement sustained by indigenous populations as a result of war, insurrection, violent civil unrest and invasion throughout the world. This foundation was established in 1996 through the benevolence of a friend of Dr. Adamson's who knew of the good works of Face to Face and wished to ensure the ongoing success of these missions.
	FACE TO FACE's dedicated team of specialists not only work collaboratively to transform children's lives, but go to great lengths to train local surgeons in advanced surgical techniques that can benefit communities long after Mission members have returned home. The constant goal of Mission members, and that of The Canadian Foundation, too, is to give the world's impoverished children a real chance to overcome the physical limitations placed on them by circumstances beyond their control.
	FACE TO FACE is an extraordinary educational surgical exchange program that truly benefits both patient and practitioner. Now, as ever, The Canadian Foundation is committed to supporting such worthy initiatives and funding the fine medical personnel who volunteer to staff these highly successful and rewarding humanitarian programs. Ongoing Foundation funding is achieved through personal and corporate donations. In addition, an annual fundraising dinner, Face The Future™ is held in February.
	With the combined efforts of The Canadian Foundation and the American Academy of Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, facial plastic and reconstructive surgeons, specialist pediatric surgeons, nurses, speech pathologists and anesthesiologists come together annually to pool their talents for this worthy humanitarian initiative.
	It is the goal of the Canadian Foundation to expand the number and scope of its annual missions as funding is increased.