Gary Heit, MD, assistant professor of neurosurgery, first learned of the dire need for neurosurgeons in Peru from his sister who lives there. So when the Peruvian Ministry of Health asked him to come, he jumped at the chance to help.

On May 18, Heit and 13 other doctors, nurses and surgical technologists will set off on a journey to Cuzco, Peru, to give 10 days of their time to those in need.

While neurosurgeon Gary Heit's humanitarian trip to mountainous Cuzco, Peru, is still more than a month away, his team's potential success depends in large measure on donations they receive today. Everything from medical supplies to cash is needed.

"Kids are dying from hydrocephalus because they don't have shunts," Heit said. Hydrocephalus occurs when the flow of cerebral spinal fluid from the brain is blocked. Left untreated, the disorder leads to extreme pressure on the brain, mental disturbance, and even death.

Neurosurgeons, like Heit, treat the disease by inserting a shunt, allowing fluid to drain from the head to other parts of the body where it can be absorbed.

Heit and his volunteer medical team will face numerous obstacles in Peru. "We won't have many things we normally take for granted," he said. "The operating room may be substandard, and we'll likely have to reuse supplies."

Heit hopes his team can treat as many as 60 children who would otherwise die of hydrocephalus, and to train doctors there to treat others. But, their success depends in large part on the supplies they gather now through donations from the community.