REPORT OF OUR JOINT MISSION and OFFICIAL PARTNERSHIP: OPERATION HERNIA AND GLOBAL HERNIA RELIEF
Ho, Teaching hospital (Volta region), Ghana
November 24th to 30th , 2024
We are blessed to announce that the first joint mission of two established hernia foundations was a big success! Global Hernia Relief (GHR) is a humanitarian foundation, a non-profit organization, with equal goals and principles as Operation Hernia, to date only performing hernia operations in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Due to the civil unrest and instability in Haiti and moreover, the persisting gang violence, Haiti is unfortunately at the moment not safely accessible so we agreed to provide help in Ghana.
In collaboration with Chris Oppong, Erwin van Geffen and his GHR team organized a hernia mission to Ghana. On November 24th they travelled to Ho Teaching Hospital with 11 Team-members:
Erwin van Geffen, Doeke Boersma, Giel Koning, Kevin Buckley (surgeons from respectively Jeroen Bosch Hospital, Euregio Klinik Nordhorn and New York), Barbe Pieters & Gert-Jan Wagteveld (anesthesiologists), Ingrid van Asseldonk & Ingrid van de Ven (recovery nurses), Kiki Lampe & Wendy van Erp (scrub nurses) and Albert Wagenaar (sterilization), the latter all from the Jeroen Bosch Hospital.
It was a very successful week, treating 103 abdominal wall hernia’s in 5 days on 2 OR’s. Mostly very large inguino-scrotal hernia’s, which were treated under local anesthesia with sedation, but children were also treated with both inguinal and umbilical hernia’s.
Both anesthesia and surgery residents were trained within their own profession, as well as the local scrub nurses and personnel from the sterilization department.
On Friday night we organized a celebration dinner, offered to the whole Ho-Hospital staff, to express our gratitude. To our joy, more than 60 people eventually showed up and attended this dinner-party. We thanked every member of the team for their efforts, enthusiasm and excellent teamwork.
Team Global Hernia Relief team would like to express their gratitude and send a big thanks to the hospital board, Dr John Tampuori, Dr Nelson Affram, all staff members of Ho Teaching Hospital (including all nurses and members of the sterilization team) and the many local people that helped with transportation, hotel and catering.
Many thanks to Mr Chris Oppong, Chairman of Operation Hernia, for the fruitful collaboration between our foundations, resulting in an official partnership between Operation Hernia and Global Hernia Relief!
Read more on www.globalherniarelief.com or download the complete mission report here.
We are all looking forward to planning a new mission.
Erwin van Geffen,
On behalf of the Global Hernia Relief Foundation