Five teen girls from de Toledo High School in West Hills ventured to Guatemala City recently to shadow a medical team from Long Beach that took modern medical care to 100 indigenous children who needed surgeries and procedures including removing tonsils, repairing eardrums, eliminating nasal blockages and mending nasal deformities.
The California-based medical team from Miller Children’s and Women’s Hospital Long Beach, led by Dr. Namrata Varma, visits annually to perform ear, nose and throat surgeries. The surgeries and procedures are lifesaving for children lacking access to doctors.
“In Guatemala (at the Moore Pediatric Surgery Center), a substantial gap exists in healthcare access, especially in rural areas where most of our patients come from,” said Varma, according to the hospital’s website. “Our mission fills this gap by providing specialized pediatric ENT (ears, nose, and throat) care for pediatric patients who would otherwise go without it.”
The surgery center in the heart of Guatemala City is the only pediatric center utilized year-round by volunteer medical teams providing surgeries in 10 different specialties, according to the hospital’s website.
The five de Toledo students joined the medical mission alongside Woodland Hills-based nonprofit Mending Kids.org during an eight-day trip to Guatemala City in mid-March.
Students observed medical procedures, engaged with patients and their families and provided emotional support to the young patients who at times were filled with dread.
Although only one of the West Hills students spoke Spanish, the language barrier didn’t deter the students.
“It was an incredible experience,” said Lielle Temkin, 16, who wants to be a physician’s assistant and work with young children. “We connected with patients the first day. We got to play with them and make them feel comfortable and feel safe. They (and their families) were friendly and grateful, even though it was all new to them. It was much different than here.”
De Toledo High School medical academy students Gabriella Sinai, 16, Mia Abramovitch, 17, Ilana Litwak, 16, Lielle Temkin, 16, and Sophie Klaristenfeld, 17, of in West Hills pose on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at their West Hills school. The students witnessed otorhinolaryngology surgeries in Guatemala last month while shadowing a team from Long Beach as they brought care to indigenous children. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Medical academy students look over tonsillectomy slides at de Toledo High School in West Hills on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. The slides were from surgeries they witnessed in Guatemala last month as they shadowed a team from Long Beach who were bringing care to indigenous children who lacked access to medical care. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Medical academy students Ilana Litwak, 16, Lielle Temkin, 16, and Sophie Klaristenfeld, 17, look over tonsillectomy slides at de Toledo High School in West Hills on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. The slides were from surgeries they witnessed in Guatemala last month as they shadowed a team from Long Beach who were bringing care to indigenous children who lacked access to medical care. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Show Caption1 of 3De Toledo High School medical academy students Gabriella Sinai, 16, Mia Abramovitch, 17, Ilana Litwak, 16, Lielle Temkin, 16, and Sophie Klaristenfeld, 17, of in West Hills pose on Wednesday, April 2, 2025 at their West Hills school. The students witnessed otorhinolaryngology surgeries in Guatemala last month while shadowing a team from Long Beach as they brought care to indigenous children. (Photo by Sarah Reingewirtz, Los Angeles Daily News/SCNG) Expand
The annual medical mission is part of de Toledo’s Medical Science Academy, a three-year specialized course of study encompassing college preparatory academics, lab work, surgery internships and international medical missions for high schoolers interested in careers in medicine or nursing.
Michael Rayhan, de Toledo’s Medical Science Academy director, described the situation in Guatemala as dire, saying children wait for years to get needed medical attention.
“Their tonsils were so enlarged, even the doctors wondered how these kids were able to breathe properly,” Rayhan said.
He added that the trips provide lifelong experiences and open students’ eyes to the world around them.
De Toledo is a private college-preparatory Jewish high school that offers advance placement and honors-level courses alongside pre-med, robotics, engineering, computer science and speech and debate programs. It offers overseas partnerships and student exchange programs with Jewish schools in Israel and several other countries.
The school culture focuses on community and kindness, practicing the Jewish concept of “tikkun olam,” Hebrew for “repair” or “heal the world.”
“This mission is a real-world application,” Rahyan said. “Students can get to practice in the real world.”
Sophie Klaristenfeld, 17, said the trip decided her future in health care. She learned human anatomy at school, and Sophie said, “We knew a lot of what we were looking at during the surgeries” in Guatemala. And Mia Abramovitch, 17, confirmed her passion for the medical field and is set on pediatric cardiothoracic surgery. “Being able to directly talk to surgeons allowed me to determine if it was something I could see myself doing,” Mia said.
Ilana Litwak, 16, wants to go into oncology and she prepared for the trip to Guatemala by researching the causes, effects, symptoms and procedures the teens would be observing.
Ilana had an unforgettable, life-changing experience in Guatemala City. Her brother, Oscar, and other family members died from cancer, prompting her parents to form the nonprofit Oscar Litwak Foundation, which provides “distraction bags” filled with toys and crafts for young patients when they are admitted to a hospital or the ER.
She took distraction bags for sick children on the Guatemala City trip. “I came away with the feeling that I most definitely want to be in the medical field, and the advice and lessons that we received from the doctors will forever stick with me and will be applied in my future career,” Ilana said.
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