Medical Mission to Namibia: 2018 Recap

We completed our second full mission to Namibia in August 2018. While there we assessed 80 patients and performed surgery for 35, ranging in age from six to sixty-seven years old.

The team focuses primarily on foot and ankle deformities, but this year we also performed a few cases for knee, shoulder, and hand injuries. Our team included Dr. Kao, an orthopedic surgeon who specializes in arthroscopy. We brought arthroscopy equipment with us and donated it to the Namibian Ministry of Health at the end of the mission so that the local surgeons have the latest equipment to treat more patients.

This year we worked from Windhoek Central Hospital facilities, which are more modern than those we used in 2016. The anesthesiology and nursing staffs were well-prepared and, as always, an important part of our team.

In addition to our work at the hospital, four of the doctors lectured at the University of Namibia Medical School in the afternoon. The lectures went well and each generated good questions and discussion from the Namibian doctors and students.

Part of the team traveled north to Angola with Dr. Haifuku, the Namibian Minister of Health. Dr. Nyska joined Dr. Haifuku to share information about our project, evaluate more patients, and tour the medical facilities at multiple hospitals. Dr. Nyska was very impressed with the facilities and equipment in the Angolan hospitals, much of which is very new. He shared information with the orthopedic doctors from Angola, who visited our team the following week to observe surgeries.

Day 1: The team heads up to the operating area.