Currently, the team is focused on Bolivia, Peru, Colombia and Mexico, with other interests in Malaysia and Africa. “Sometimes the things we do in these countries are neurosurgical in nature, but in Africa, our work takes on more of an overall approach to pediatrics, helping develop facilities,” he continues. “It’s building pediatric wards, ICUs, ORs, radiology units and more, just to help them get set up to provide quality pediatric care.” Through the relationships the team has built with medical professionals and residents in these communities, stories have been shared, obstacles observed and disparities discovered—all of which they have started capturing on camera
In recent years, Dr. Levy has worked with a team of
“When we hear these stories, we realize there’s nothing we can do to help from a medical standpoint, but what we can do is raise awareness of the disparities that exist in these communities,” Dr. Levy says. “It is very different from anything we’ve ever done medically in these countries, but I want these stories to get out. Everything we do medically is important, but this is just as important for different reasons.”
photographers and videographers to create four documentaries on unique groups of people and their approach to keeping their culture alive and well. There is a story about a community in Bogota, Colombia, that is using rap to preserve their language; another about convergent strategies to combine the tradition of a medicine man with the advances of modern medicine in La Paz, Bolivia; and yet another about the Uru people in Bolivia. The Uru live on a number of self- fashioned floating islands in Lake Titicaca and their lives
are being compromised by the impact of global warming on the lake.
It is a long-term approach to building programs and working with motivated and talented people who just don’t have all the resources we do. MICHAEL LEVY, MD, PHD, CHIEF OF PEDIATRIC NEUROSURGERY AT RADY CHILDREN’S
in order to create captivating videos that tell the stories of the unique needs of indigenous peoples. “Based on the work we’ve done, we have learned more and more about the trials and tribulations of the people in Central and South America,” Dr. Levy says. “This
is an important topic, because if you want to look at a population that is universally treated poorly, it’s the indigenous population of any country.”
Dr. Levy and neurosurgeon Daniella Rico, MD, in Bogota, Colombia
FALL 2023 HEALTHY KIDS MAGAZINE 23
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