Trip to Tehuacan

The Mercy Outreach Surgical Team (MOST) is a group of doctors, who offer voluntary help to people who would normally not be able to afford this care. The group consists of physicians and nurses, the central figure being plastic surgeon Dr. Thomas Vecchione. On their trip through the Mexican interior, the benefactors are confronted with dire poverty and suffering. By Western standards, the medical problems are not all that serious. But something relatively simple like a thirty-minute operation to remedy a cleft palate or harelip is far too expensive for the people in these regions. The result is that many of these people are branded for life and can hardly participate in the social life of their community. Fortunately, MOST manages to get many people out of their isolated position. During this trip, the doctors operate on 240 people. The film not only makes clear what the work of MOST does for the patients and their relatives, but also the impact it has on the emotional welfare of the doctors themselves. One of them calls it a ‘soul changing and energising experience.’ (International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam)