Physical Health Sierra Leone Project #40931

CHANGE A LIFE - pediatric surgery in Sierra Leone

by Bethany Relief and Rehabilitation International

CHANGE A LIFE - pediatric surgery in Sierra Leone

Project Report | Oct 28, 2022
Giving Thanks.

By Lillian Gitau | Director of Global Program

Sierra Leone has long struggled with some of the most challenging health outcomes in the world, particularly in children. BethanyKids decision to train Dr. Lebbie in pediatric surgery was partly driven by the enormous need to have a trained pediatric surgeon in the country. Today, although the situation is still far from perfect, we have continued to witness the tremendous improvements in the health outcomes for children in Sierra Leone, as Dr. Lebbie and other professionals sacrificially give of their time and skills to meet the needs of sick children.

With little time to spare, Dr. Lebbie attends to high volumes of patients from all over Sierra Leone at the large government hospital – Connaught where he works. He divides his time between the city hospital and several other rural hospitals in the country, where he meets the health needs of children in far-flung areas to the East, West and North of the country. Communities in these remote and often marginalized areas often wait anxiously for the day of surgery, being the only hope for their children’s survival. Having healthcare provided closer to home is nothing short of a miracle for many, and Dr. Lebbie meets the needs of children skillfully and compassionately.

Thus far, Dr. Lebbie has touched the lives of hundreds of children and families. In the past 9 months this year, he has operated on over 200 children and provided another 740 with reviews and follow up clinics. Considering he is the only pediatric surgeon at this large hospital and with a myriad of other duties to carry out, his commitment to children’s health has been unquestionable.

We are indeed grateful to the many of you who believe in Dr. Lebbie’s work and who have continued to support him. Each step we take will help us realize the dream of improved health for children in Sierra Leone, resulting in dozens of transformed lives. We encourage you to continue to support this effort and thank you most sincerely for your partnership!

Links:

Love Heals

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Jul 6, 2022
Reaching Children in Hard Places

By Lillian Gitau | Director of Global Programs

Patrick, a product of Dr. Lebbie's work!

Right in the heart of Freetown Sierra Leone sits Connaught hospital, one of the largest hospitals in the country. Here a buzz of different activities can be observed with patients from all over the country receiving different types of medical attention.

At Connaught we find Dr. Lebbie, Bethanykids pediatric surgeon, busy meeting the needs of his patients. He cares deeply for the people of his country and is constantly making sure they receive the best medical care this hospital can offer them. His special focus is on children and beyond the walls of Connaught, he finds time to travel to the hard places in the country, just to ensure that healthcare is accessible to the most vulnerable children in those regions.

While Connaught hospital still remains the main hub of clinical activities, Dr. Lebbie, in partnership with other medics conduct various surgical camps. This past month for instance, a surgical camp was carried out at the Adama Marther Memorial Center, which is a 5-hour drive from Connaught Hospital. Through Dr. Lebbie's commitment, BethanyKids continues to pay bills for emergencies and other operations for children at Adama Martha Memorial Health Center.

Current Needs:

While the Covid-19 restrictions have greatly eased, there is an ever growing list of needs that require urgent attention. Dr. Lebbie has been anxious to expand his work to Makeni, which is the largest city in the Northern part of the country. The Holy Spirit Hospital, one of the largest in Makeni is his intended site for work in this region and is currently undergoing some structural adjustments.

In addition to the need to expand healthcare to new sites, is the need to train more pediatric surgeons in the country. With his committment to meet the healthcare needs of the children in the country, Dr. Lebbie recently vouched to have Dr Catherine Jackson-Cole trained in pediatric surgery. She has now commenced training at Kijabe Hospital in Kenya and will be ready to serve in a few years.

We are so thankful for these growing efforts in the country and especially grateful to each one of you, our supporters who make it all possible. Dr. Lebbie is especially thankful for your committment which enables him to provide care to children in the hardest of places in his country!

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Join us!

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Mar 14, 2022
Bringing Healing to Rural Sierra Leone

By Dr. Aiah Lebbie | Pediatric Surgeon

Dr. Lebbie

We are very blessed to have Dr. Lebbie as our BethanyKids pediatric surgeon in Sierra Leone. Thank you for your support for our work there. Your generosity continues to make a difference in the lives of many children.

A NOTE FROM DR. LEBBIE:

We are thankful that life here is slowly returning back to normal. Travel has opened up enabling me to resume my routine visits to clinics as far away as Jericho Road's Adama Martha Memorial Community Health Center (AMMCH). Please accept my gratitude for your continued support.

I want to share with you the accomplishments over this past year which would not have been possible without your support. Despite the challenges we faced as a result of Covid-19, 256 children received surgical treatment; and we provided over 1,000 outpatient reviews and consultations. Twenty (24) four children gave their lives to Christ. We are deeply thankful to see so many lives transformed for eternity.

This past month, I was able to travel to Adama Martha Community Health Center to provide consultations and reviews to children in need of treatment there. This community health center is located nearly 400km from Connaught hospital in Freetown which is my primary work location. Unfortunately, my team and I did not perform any operations at the centre. One of the barriers to treating children with disabilities we often come across is the lack of education within rural communities regarding the medical options available to support children born with disabilities. Moreover, many communities are superstious towards those with disabilities. This is an area we continue to place efforts in by providing the necessary awareness and education to debunk negatively held beliefs. As we continue to raise awareness, I am optimistic that parents will be encouraged to bring their children for treatment.

CURRENT NEED:

We have a proposed new surgical camp at the Makeni regional hospital located towards the Northern part of the country. We are looking forward to providing surgical treatment in this new location as soon as we can get the basic theatre equipment and pediatric surgical instruments needed there. This will help children in this part of the coutry to access the care that they desperately need. Would you consider giving towards this need?

The team here in Sierra Leone, the children and parents thank you most sincerely for your support!

Links:

Make a visible impact in a child's life

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