CHILDREN'S SURGERY INTERNATIONAL

In January 2008, CSI went on its first mission to Liberia. Ravaged by years of civil war, most of Liberia’s infrastructure had been destroyed, and the need for medical attention was great. In the two weeks that CSI was there, we were able to provide basic medical care to over 200 residents, perform 60 surgeries and hold numerous lectures for local medical students.
Thanks to a close partnership with Firestone Natural Rubber initiated in 2010, CSI has been able to return annually. The missions are hosted at Firestone Hospital Duside, a hospital on the Firestone Natural Rubber Plantation, which was rebuilt after the war. The need for pediatric medical attention is great in the region, and many more children need care than we can see during a surgical trip. We are committed to providing training and education for local personnel so they can continue this important work after we leave.
A CSI surgical team returned to Liberia in January 2017, after a 3-year hiatus during the Ebola crisis in West Africa. CSI teams are returning to Liberia again in 2018.

CSI completed its first mission to Ethiopia in 2015. Through our partnerships with Bahir Dar University and Felege Hiwot Hospital, we plan to return twice yearly to provide free surgical care and extensive professional education and training.
This mission was as unique and special as the country itself. CSI teams focus on craniofacial, urologic and cardiac surgery and providing critical education, training and mentoring to local surgeons.
In addition to training for physicians, CSI nursing volunteers worked side-by-side with Ethiopian nurses to teach them about medication dosing, post-surgical care and much more.
“I have the opportunity this week to learn from a surgeon who is absolutely extraordinary, more extraordinary than I could have ever imagined.”
– Dr. Melesse Gebeyehu

Thanh Hoa City, along Vietnam’s Ma River, is in the heart of the country’s poorest region. Many residents of the city, which is 150 km south of Hanoi, make their living working in the rice fields, some having done so since they were small children.
When CSI arrived in Thanh Hoa City for its first mission in September 2015, we anticipated screening 70 patients. More than 200 children were waiting for us, thanks to advance work done by our partner IPSAC, whose NGO status allowed CSI to add Vietnam to the list of countries we serve. The hospital and its professionals are eager to learn, and the need for this care in the region is great.
CSI recently completed a three-year commitment to this site - it included 4 CSI team trips to Vietnam and hosting hospital leaders in the US to learn more about our models for surgical and patient care, infection control, patient and family education and more. Half-way through our multi-year commitment we were able to stop bringing craniofacial surgeons due to the high level of skill our partners had developed. We continued to focus our training efforts on urology surgery and infection control. CSI is excited to identify new partners and sites in Vietnam.

CSI is excited to announce a new site commitment in Tanzania, beginning in 2018. Our focus will be on providing free surgical and medical care for craniofacial and urologic surgeres, plus extensive surgical, anesthesia and nursing training to build in-country self-sufficiency. We are planning for twice annual trips for the next 2-3 years.