For the sixth year, Dr. Jason Frischer of the Colorectal Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital in Cincinnati OH, will lead a team to the Bugando Medical Center (BMC) in Mwanza, Tanzania.
A facility that serves 16 million people from the region.
The mission imparts surgical training skills to nun-surgeon, Sister Alicia Massenga, a general surgeon with a keen interest in pediatric general surgery and to help the hundreds of children from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya who are currently on a waitlist to receive complex & life-changing surgeries. Each trip, the Mending Kids team makes greater strides in training local nurses on bowel-prep techniques and post-operative bowel management.
A facility that serves 16 million people from the region.
The mission imparts surgical training skills to nun-surgeon, Sister Alicia Massenga, a general surgeon with a keen interest in pediatric general surgery and to help the hundreds of children from Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya who are currently on a waitlist to receive complex & life-changing surgeries. Each trip, the Mending Kids team makes greater strides in training local nurses on bowel-prep techniques and post-operative bowel management.
The need
Tanzania is the largest country in East Africa with a population of 61 million, 44% of whom are less than 15 years old, making it one of the youngest populations in the world.
Although the median age is only 17 years old, life expectancy is 63 years and there’s only .02 physicians per 1000 residents (for comparison the United States has 26/1000).
Due to cultural beliefs that ARM (anorectal malformations) are a curse, children are forced to live in the shadows and shame and do not attend school.
The opportunity for these children to have their congenital conditions repaired, gives them hope of leading healthy, happier lives and to attend school in the future.
Although the median age is only 17 years old, life expectancy is 63 years and there’s only .02 physicians per 1000 residents (for comparison the United States has 26/1000).
Due to cultural beliefs that ARM (anorectal malformations) are a curse, children are forced to live in the shadows and shame and do not attend school.
The opportunity for these children to have their congenital conditions repaired, gives them hope of leading healthy, happier lives and to attend school in the future.
|
Zainabu3 year old, Zainabu was seen by Dr. Frischer's team in 2016.
Sadly, the team was unable to correct her condition because a large heart defect was detected which made it unsafe for her to be operated. In the year and a half since she was seen, Mending Kids had Zainabu's heart condition repaired. She was one of a dozen children who was operated on when the team returned to Mwanza in the late fall of 2018. |
Progress and goals
Since its inception, Dr. Frischer's team has mended more than 75 children and aided in diagnosing more than a hundred to receive the correct treatment.
The Mission is currently funded through the generosity of individual donors, modest foundation grants, medical partnerships such as Toshiba, Medshare and Americares.
Our goal is to deploy Dr. Frischer and his team annually for the next 5 years.
The Mission is currently funded through the generosity of individual donors, modest foundation grants, medical partnerships such as Toshiba, Medshare and Americares.
Our goal is to deploy Dr. Frischer and his team annually for the next 5 years.