This global initiative addresses the needs of burn survivors in India by expanding access to critical surgical care and helping them get rid of the social stigma. Delta Air Lines and Thrive Causemetics step in to support India’s sole Burn Camp to be held this December
Whether moderate, severe, or widespread, coping with a burn injury, the potential scarring and possible surgeries is a huge challenge, more so if the marks are visible, such as on the face or hands. Statistics indicate that burn injuries are a leading cause of premature death and disability in India. In fact, women and girls suffer burn disabilities and deaths at nearly twice the rate as other women and girls around the globe. India has only seven surgical specialists per 100,000 people and approximately three reconstructive plastic surgeons per two million people!
At the least, it is imperative to have in place communities and support groups of people who have had burn injuries where they can share their experience and struggles and thus find some comfort and strength. One such organisation that helps people heal through the power of its communities and products is RealSelf, the world’s leading online marketplace for people to learn and share experiences about cosmetic procedures and connect with the right providers, including doctors and other clinicians. Millions visit RealSelf each month to browse patient reviews, before and after photos, and seek expert answers on treatments and providers. From emerging nonsurgical technologies to cosmetic surgeries, RealSelf provides the insights needed to make an informed decision.
Recently, RealSelf launched Beyond Scars: Healing Bodies. Restoring Lives — a new global initiative that provides burn survivors access to reconstructive surgery and medical care in India. The mainstay of the Beyond Scars program is to help people access critical reconstructive care in underserved communities. RealSelf Founder and CEO Tom Seery says that the programme is an extension of the organisation’s commitment to help people realise their full potential no matter where they live in the world.
Working through collaboration
The RealSelf Beyond Scars program takes a multifaceted approach to addressing the needs of burn survivors in India — by expanding access to critical surgical care and by enabling survivors to get rid of the stigma of disfiguring scars. This new program supports medical professionals in India who provide reconstructive surgical care to burn survivors in the region. It also sends trained medical teams and volunteers to areas of the country where burn survivors have little access to critical care.
The RealSelf Beyond Scars program partners with ReSurge International (estd. 1969), a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to building reconstructive surgical capacity in developing countries. ReSurge International provides safe, timely, and affordable surgical care in developing countries and develops surgical capacity to ensure the availability of year-round care. Through surgical care and the ReSurge Global Training Program (RGTP), ReSurge it trains the next generation of reconstructive surgeons in Africa, Latin America, and Asia; works with them to create a sustainable care model, and together provide reconstructive surgical care to people living in poverty and in remote areas.
RealSelf support for ReSurge International in India started in 2015. The first volunteer trip in March 2018 at the Helping Hands Centre, a medical clinic in Dehradun was a success. This led to the creation of RealSelf Beyond Scars. The program’s second volunteer-led trip to India in December is sponsored, in part, by Delta Air Lines. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs more than 80,000 employees worldwide and serves more than 180 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named to Fortune’s top 50 Most Admired Companies.
A burn camp on the cards
The upcoming volunteer trip in December will greatly aid Camp Karma, which is the subcontinent’s first and only burn camp — in a nation where there are more than 1.5 million paediatric burn survivors! Camp Karma was set up in 2013 by Dr. Vinita Puri, Head, Plastic Surgery at King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital in Mumbai. Camp Karma focuses on transforming the lives of paediatric burn survivors by strengthening children’s ability to mentally, socially, and emotionally recover from their burn injuries and gain the tools they need to move past their scars.
The Indian culture is not unlike the cultures in other nations where a combination of mythology, media, and cultural idioms associate physical scars with bad or evil. Usually, the programmes that seek to break these cultural norms are mainly geared towards adolescents and adults; such programmes do not exist for children. Camp Karma aims to bridge this gap by bringing together young burn survivors for a three-day camp near Mumbai, where they can leave behind cultural, religious, and socio-economic differences. Local counsellors and volunteers and international staff members attend the camp every year.
The branded contribution
Thrive Causemetics, a luxury cosmetics brand, stepped up as a partner for this inaugural program to Camp Karma. Their donation will now enable the young women of the camp to receive make-up lessons thus adding to their new-found confidence. Makeup artist and beauty product developer Karissa Bodnar set up Thrive Causemetics as a tribute to close friend Kristy who succumbed to cancer at a young age. For every product purchased, one is donated to help women. Their products are vegan and cruelty-free, and developed at Thrive Lab in Los Angeles. True to their mission of ‘beauty with a purpose’ Thrive Causemetics empowers women — their generous giving supports women worldwide experiencing a range of challenging issues, from domestic violence to cancer treatment.
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