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© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL
© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL
THE CAUSE

WHO WE ARE

 

 

WE BELIEVE THAT ALL WOMEN DESERVE THE RIGHT TO LIVE WITH DIGNITY AND TO PARTICIPATE AS STRONG AND VIBRANT MEMBERS OF SOCIETY.

 

 

WE ARE WOMEN RESTORING WOMEN

IN MANY PARTS OF THE WORLD, WOMEN AND YOUNG GIRLS SUFFER DISFIGURING AND DISABLING INJURIES & TRAUMA, OFTEN THE RESULT OF AN ASSAULT OR ACCIDENT.

 

MANY OF THESE AFFLICTIONS ARE DUE TO SOCIAL TRADITIONS, A WOMAN’S ETHNIC BACKGROUND, OR SIMPLY DANGEROUS ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS THAT RESULT IN BURNS.

 

RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

IS A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION SUPPORTED BY A TEAM OF FEMALE SURGEONS FROM AROUND THE  WORLD

 ADDRESSING THE MEDICAL NEEDS OF THESE WOMEN, WORKING TO RESTORE THEM PHYSICALLY AND HELPING THEM TO RETURN TO  HAPPY AND PRODUCTIVE LIVES.

SENDING A MESSAGE

SENDING A MESSAGE

IN CARING FOR THESE WOMEN AND GIRLS WHO HAVE BEEN SOCIALLY MARGINALIZED AND CAST OFF BY THEIR COMMUNITIES, WE ARE SENDING THE VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE THAT

EVERY WOMAN MATTERS, EVERY GIRL IS IMPORTANT.

ALL WOMEN DESERVE TO LIVE WITH DIGNITY DESPITE THE INJURIES AND TRAUMA SUFFERED.

 

THESE WOMEN RETURN TO THEIR FAMILIES & HOMES RESTORED- THUS SENDING A VERY POWERFUL MESSAGE TO THEIR COMMUNITIES THAT THEY ARE VALUED INDIVIDUALS DESERVING OF LOVE & RESPECT.

OUR STORY

OUR STORY

 

The story of RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL (formerly WomenforWomen Reconstructive Surgery) began in 2007 when a small team of female plastic surgeons from Germany and the United States set off to work in a remote hospital in Northern India. Their goal was to offer reconstructive surgery to rural women who had been burned in domestic violence attacks. They traveled over long and dangerous roads and faced many challenges, including extreme temperatures and poor operating conditions. They carried with them a strong sense of solidarity among women. This journey was the start of our organization.

 

Plastic surgeons are more involved in humanitarian programs around the world than any other medical specialty. In 2006, Dr. Marita Eisenmann-Klein was the first woman elected as General Secretary of the International Confederation for Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (IPRAS). She recognized the urgent reconstructive needs of women in developing countries. Together with Dr. Constance Neuhann-Lorenz, she founded WomenforWomen (former name of RWI). In a worldwide campaign for solidarity, a network of female plastic surgeons was formed who regularly give up their holidays to help afflicted women.

© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

The Founding Reconstructing Women International Team with the local staff at Janani hospital in Palampur, February 2009.

WANAWAKE

WOMEN RESTORInG WOMEN :

 

THE POWER OF WANAWAKE

 

Our RWI teams are generally all female because in the areas of the world

where we work, female patients are more likely to seek care when they

and their families know that they will only be seen by other women.

An important additional benefit of this is the strong sense of kinship and

solidarity that develops on each trip. As women, surgeons and patients alike,

we recognize each other and the roles in which we live – as mothers, daughters, sisters, friends. 

Being a woman surgeon does provide a different perspective.  Speaking beyond even the context of these surgical programs, the fact that more young women are choosing surgical careers is a good thing. Surgery has traditionally been a ‘male world’, with all that that entails. Women are now changing the culture of surgery; we are softening it at its edges in a very positive way. We can be just as technically good, just as disciplined, hardworking and committed, but we see things through a slightly different lens. Our patients also see us differently; to them, we are less the ‘unapproachable surgeon’ and more ‘the lady doctor.’ We are thus sometimes better able to hear, understand and react to our patients’ concerns. As the number of female plastic surgeons increases internationally, we hope that our ranks of RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL surgeons will continue to grow.

 

 

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wanawake

/wÉ‘nÉ™ wÉ”k eɪ/

noun

In Swahili, the plural form of woman

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OUR TEAM

OUR LEADERSHIP TEAM

 

RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL is a small organization and everyone works as a volunteer. 

CANADA
USA
EUROPE
© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL
© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL
© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

NANCY VAN LAEKEN

MD, FRCSC

ANDREA PUSIC 

MD, MHS, FACS, FRCSC

NICOLE LINDENBLATT

 MD, FEBOPRAS

CLINICAL PROFESSOR
PLASTIC & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY
UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA, VANCOUVER, BC, CANADA
CHIEF, DIVISION OF PLASTIC AND RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY
BRIGHAM AND WOMEN'S HOSPITAL, BOSTON, MA
PROFESSOR OF SURGERY, HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
PRESIDENT, PLASTIC SURGERY FOUNDATION

DEPUTY CHIEF AND ADJUNCT PROFESSOR,

DIVISION OF PLASTIC AND HAND SURGERY 

UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL ZURICH,

ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

Director, Reconstructing Women Canada

Region Program Coordinator, Southern India

Director, Reconstructing Women U.S.A.

Region Program Coordinator, East Africa

Director, Reconstructing Women Europe

​

© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL
© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

TONI ZHONG

MD, MHS, FRCS(C)

ALEXES HAZEN

MD, FACS

BELINDA STRONACH CHAIR OF UHN BREAST RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGERY

DIRECTOR OF UHN BREAST RECONSTRUCTIVE PROGRAM,

TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA

ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF PLASTIC SURGERY 
HANSJORG WYSS DEPARTMENT OF PLASTIC SURGERY
© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

INGE HASELSTEINER

 DR. med.

ANESTHETIST
MUNICH, GER

Associate Director, Canada

Region Program Coordinator, Bangladesh

Associate Director, Europe

Associate Director, U.S.A.

Region Program Coordinator, Northern India

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CHRISTIANA JOHNSON

Education Coordinator

THE FOUNDERS
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MARITA EISENMANN-KLEIN, PROF. H.C., Dr MED, Dr H.C.  

Specialist Plastic Surgery, Dubai, UAE

© 2018 RECONSTRUCTING WOMEN INTERNATIONAL

CONNIE NEUHANN-LORENZ, M.D.

Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, Munich, GER

 

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DEBRA ANN REILLY, MD, FACS

Professor of Surgery, Plastic and Burn Reconstructive Surgery, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE 

HONORARY CHAIRS
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H.I.R.H Katharina Archduchess of Austria

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H.S.H. Dr. Sarah Princess of Isenburg

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