Over 3,000 Surgeries Performed in Ethiopia
HCP and partners traveled to Bahir Dar and Boru Meda for two outreach events.
Bahir Dar
HCP Ethiopia Representative Dr. Liknaw Adamu and HCP Program Manager Teketel Mathiwos welcomed patients at Felege Hiwot Hospital in Bahir Dar and ensured the medical staff were prepared for every stage of surgery from pre-operative to post-operative. The team completed 1,813 surgeries over the course of six days.
Bora Meda
Following the surgical outreach at Felege Hiwot Hospital, HCP, partners, and volunteers traveled to Boru Meda hospital. A total of 1,270 sight-saving surgeries were performed.
One young patient, Tafere Gete, age 10, came from a small village in Bokesos, Ethiopia. He was injured last Christmas playing stickball with his friends. After his injury, he was unable to play sports. Fortunately, Gete was able to have his sight restored in a successful surgery performed by Dr. Matt Oliva.
Many thanks to Dr. Matt Oliva, Dr. Muluken Fantaw, head ophthalmologist at Boru Meda Hospital, and additional local staff, volunteer surgeons Drs. Sam Cady and David Khorram, photographer Christopher Briscoe, and volunteers Lucia Fernandez, Claire Bonilla, and Chantey Aldridge for their incredible work and support.
These high-volume surgical opportunities are bringing us closer to achieving our goal of 1 million sight-restoring surgeries during our 25th anniversary in 2020.
