KDD VISITS IVORY COAST FROM
2 OCTOBER TO 14 OCTOBER 2016
After the tragically events of February 2016 in Grand Bassam Ka Dounia Dia was proud to realize this could and would not hold medical volunteers from performing their support to the Don Orione Centre and their handicapped kids waiting for surgery in Bonnoua.
In may 2016 Dick van der Schaaf went already on a coaching mission of 2 weeks to operate together with dr Claude and early October a full medical team went Dutch (surgeons Dick van der Schaaf Ad Ooms anesthetist Huib Schut operation assistant Hanneke Bloxk)
Besides some complicates intervention on adults a total of 20 children were operated during the nine working days available in a rainy Ivory Coast.
As the local team of dr Monsia masters the normal clog feet interventions very well most of the operations especially the second week were complicated cases and some neglected patients who needed correction on earlier performed operations elsewhere.
Huib was able to introduce new, more secure, techniques to the local team which should be continued to be used as well in the future.
Dick van der Schaaf and KDD are pushing to introduce a more trustworthy sterilizer (autoclave), one is already broke for years the other old and not always working. Paolo Riccardi will try the comming month to get them in shape replacing some spare parts if this won't do for both machines we will organize the replacement of one of them by fair second hand.
A short visit was made to padre Riccardo since September 2016 working in Ouagadougou Burkina Faso where he tries to boost the local Don Orione centre (at this very moment only performing on low scale some ophthalmology surgery). Early February2017 Dick van der Schaaf and KDD will travel to Burkina Faso and Togo to explore the possibilities for the future missions as an alternative to the Bonoua destination.
Total cost of the current mission amounts to €3820.
KDD wants to express their gratitude to the medical team and the host padre Angelo in Bonoua.
A next mission to Bonoua is scheduled for march 2017.
