Local surgeons Ben and Janae Kittinger are active providers for Faith in Practice, a nonprofit that provides medical care to underserved communities in Guatemala. The mission, which leans on more than 2,500 volunteers, offers healthcare to over 17,000 patients through an integrated and coordinated network of care.
“What motivates me to serve is every single person I meet, every single person we bring with us, and watching the experiences they share,” Ben Kittinger said. “Watching patients come in and be healed by surgery for a problem they’ve had for a year or their entire life, and being able to give them hope that we can restore a normal appearance or give them a normal life, that is what motivates me.”
Both Kittingers learned about the nonprofit during a training program, during which some senior surgeons invited them on their first trip. As some of those senior surgeons began reaching retirement age, the nonprofit started searching for more permanent surgeons to join the practice.
Ben Kittinger replaced Owensboro physician Jim Tidwell, who had served the nonprofit for several years. Ben and Janae are plastic surgeons, but the team comprises several specialists from the healthcare community.
Ben said he and the team take pride in offering patients an everyday life by allowing them to use their face, hands, arms, or legs normally after a significant injury or issue from birth.
“There is nothing more powerful than serving patients who are so happy and so grateful after suffering for many years,” he said. “Every time we come here, we hear from the team, the people, and the staff: ‘Welcome home.’ And that’s what it feels like — like you’ve come home to a beautiful place where the people are warm and loving.”
With limited government resources, public healthcare access in the country is scarce. More than 300 local volunteers join Faith in Practice’s 30 teams to offer regular and ongoing support to those in need.
The surgeons and physicians typically begin weekly by triaging several patients on Sunday while the team brings in equipment and supplies and preps the operating rooms. They start 4 days of operations on Monday before coming home on Saturday.
“We’re in the best place to do wonderful things for people with real problems who need real help, and that is extremely rewarding to me,” Kittinger said. “I’ve been on several mission trips, and this is definitely one of the better-organized ones. There are several community outreach and public health programs, and we’re glad we can be a small part of it.”
