Packing...

Chief of Cardiac Surgery Ralph Morton "Chip" Bolman, III, MD, and Leslie Sabatino, RN, packed medical supplies on Friday. Team Heart has received over a half million dollars worth of donated medical supplies to perform heart surgery in Rwanda.

Posted by Ceeya Patton-Bolman, program coordinator for Team Heart

As I sit here, determined to complete the thank you notes before the "unpacking team" leaves on Monday, I cannot help reflecting on those whom have made this trip possible. Help has come not only from predictable sources, vendors we work with and respect and feel "we must have _____ to do this safely, hospital personnel have gone beyond our wildest hopes to make contacts for donations or broker great prices to provide what we need, but help has come in smaller donations, used cell phones (we continue to collect!!!) and more importantly from words of encouragement and the hope for success.

It has continued to amaze and warm my heart how the Brigham community has embraced this project. Chip and I came to the Brigham from the outside and the environment initially did not seem a welcoming one. A hard move, late in life, without children to introduce us to parents of their friends, at times we both despaired of ever being a part of the community. It has been incredible to me to see how the community of volunteers, nurses and physicians have supported each other and made a place for us too! Although we are not doing this trip for team building, it has been one of the most wonderful "side effects". Getting to know the team which embraces many more individuals than those traveling to Kigali has been wonderful.

Thank you to each of our supporters, we take a piece of you with us.

Welcome

Welcome to the official blog of Team Heart, a group of 32 volunteers from Brigham and Women's Hospital. In just two weeks, the team will head to Kigali, Rwanda, to begin a decade-long cardiac surgery mission to King Faisal Hospital.

During the inaugural visit this April, our team will perform life-saving heart surgery on Rwandan patients, most of whom suffer from rheumatic heart disease. Over the course of the next decade, we will work with staff at King Faisal Hospital and the Rwandan Ministry of Health to establish a self-sustained cardiac surgery program there.

It is an honor and a privilege for our team to be able to do this important work with our colleagues in Rwanda.

This blog will be updated frequently with photos, videos and posts during the first two weeks of April as Team Heart begins performing surgery in Rwanda. Stay tuned...