There is no shortage of severe need in our war-torn, disease-ridden world. More than 4 billion people live in unspeakable conditions and as the Ebola crisis painfully illustrates, we are only a few degrees of separation away from disaster and suffering.
How do we begin to know where or how to offer even a small level of hope and support when needs are so overwhelming and often conflicting? How do we ensure that our limited funds – and sincere intentions – actually reach those in desperate need and are not siphoned off into corruption, terrorism or administrative bloat? How do we trust that our efforts strengthen sustainable projects with far reaching impact?
The Uganda Spine Surgery Mission started in 2006 when a Ugandan doctor was determined to relieve the agony of severe spinal disorders and suffering, is an African success story. Dr. Mark Kayanja’s collaboration with Dr. Isador Lieberman, a Canadian orthopedic surgeon, is a 10-year example of role modeling at its best. Dr. Lieberman, now a partner at the Texas Back Institute. In 2014, he was named Doctor of the Year out of 3,800 by the Texas Health Resources.
Uganda, a small landlocked, agricultural country of 37.6 million in East Africa, suffers devastating poverty, primitive medical conditions and the aftermath of decades of vicious dictatorships. Yet it is an example of how passionate people, with no other agenda than to relieve suffering caused by severe spinal deformities, are not only making an immediate difference for a few, but most importantly, building long term local capacity to relieve suffering for many.
From the initial Uganda Spine Surgery Mission in 2006, with 4 volunteers who completed 8 complex spinal surgeries after assessing dozens more and training local staff, to 2014 where 21 volunteers from the United States, Canada and Europe, divided into 3 spinal teams completing more than 50 complex surgeries, the impact of the work continues to grow.
Most significantly: Ugandan medical staff trained by Dr. Lieberman and his teams are far more capable now of reducing suffering caused by spinal pathology. New understandings of trauma management and use of early antibiotics is alleviating much pain and grief.
Based on the success of its first 10 years, despite endless frustrations and set-backs, including what Dr. Lieberman describes as the “TIA”, this is Africa syndrome, the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission is now poised for greater impact in Uganda. To date, funding for the first 10 missions has just reached $500,000, an extraordinary reality due in no small measure to the massive volunteer effort of physicians, surgeons, medical technicians and lay staff, as well as the generous support from medical device companies, associations and individuals. All money and supplies are handled through the non-profit, 501-c organization, Health Volunteers Overseas in Washington, DC.
Dr. Lieberman, determined to optimize delivery of care and maximize the benefit of all donations, has established a philosophy of delivering the resources and care to the patient and institution where care is delivered. This minimizes the potential for corruption and waste.
Another major outcome –with potential global impact – of the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission, is that some of the most complicated surgical procedures are performed with bare-minimum equipment in almost field conditions. As one orthopedic surgeon wrote, “we learn to do our best with whatever we have at hand in the circumstances we find ourselves” and amazingly, have huge success. While none of us would wish to undergo 6-10 hour spinal surgery in similar conditions, the 10 year experiences of the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission may provide some powerful role modeling to reduce current costs for Western spinal care.
Ultimately, however, the true gift of the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission may not be purely medical, despite its huge impact on reducing pain and improving standards of care in 5 different Ugandan hospitals and institutes.
As described by Dr. Krzysztof Kusca, a Polish anesthesiologist who joined the 2011 Uganda team, “ it may lead to barely unimaginable goals. The Uganda Spine Surgery Mission cannot but leave behind some awareness of another world from which people come to share their knowledge, skills and good will, just like that, from the depth of their hearts.’ Dr. Kusca, like many of the other surgeons and volunteers for the past 10 years have discovered, the “experience was the most profound in my years of medical practice. It was a sociological and cultural phenomenon that deeply affected my thoughts and emotions.”
Although the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission is small, its impact is huge in terms of its spirit of compassion, complex surgeries performed, suffering eased and training and education underway.
How can you help increase this “critical mass” to ensure it grows and continues to be sustainable? How, in our own small or large ways can we alleviate human suffering and so become the positive change we would like to see in the world?
The Uganda Spine Surgery Mission and its 19 years of successful achievements may be a powerful model to support.
How do we begin to know where or how to offer even a small level of hope and support when needs are so overwhelming and often conflicting? How do we ensure that our limited funds – and sincere intentions – actually reach those in desperate need and are not siphoned off into corruption, terrorism or administrative bloat? How do we trust that our efforts strengthen sustainable projects with far reaching impact?
The Uganda Spine Surgery Mission started in 2006 when a Ugandan doctor was determined to relieve the agony of severe spinal disorders and suffering, is an African success story. Dr. Mark Kayanja’s collaboration with Dr. Isador Lieberman, a Canadian orthopedic surgeon, is a 10-year example of role modeling at its best. Dr. Lieberman, now a partner at the Texas Back Institute. In 2014, he was named Doctor of the Year out of 3,800 by the Texas Health Resources.
Uganda, a small landlocked, agricultural country of 37.6 million in East Africa, suffers devastating poverty, primitive medical conditions and the aftermath of decades of vicious dictatorships. Yet it is an example of how passionate people, with no other agenda than to relieve suffering caused by severe spinal deformities, are not only making an immediate difference for a few, but most importantly, building long term local capacity to relieve suffering for many.
From the initial Uganda Spine Surgery Mission in 2006, with 4 volunteers who completed 8 complex spinal surgeries after assessing dozens more and training local staff, to 2014 where 21 volunteers from the United States, Canada and Europe, divided into 3 spinal teams completing more than 50 complex surgeries, the impact of the work continues to grow.
Most significantly: Ugandan medical staff trained by Dr. Lieberman and his teams are far more capable now of reducing suffering caused by spinal pathology. New understandings of trauma management and use of early antibiotics is alleviating much pain and grief.
Based on the success of its first 10 years, despite endless frustrations and set-backs, including what Dr. Lieberman describes as the “TIA”, this is Africa syndrome, the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission is now poised for greater impact in Uganda. To date, funding for the first 10 missions has just reached $500,000, an extraordinary reality due in no small measure to the massive volunteer effort of physicians, surgeons, medical technicians and lay staff, as well as the generous support from medical device companies, associations and individuals. All money and supplies are handled through the non-profit, 501-c organization, Health Volunteers Overseas in Washington, DC.
Dr. Lieberman, determined to optimize delivery of care and maximize the benefit of all donations, has established a philosophy of delivering the resources and care to the patient and institution where care is delivered. This minimizes the potential for corruption and waste.
Another major outcome –with potential global impact – of the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission, is that some of the most complicated surgical procedures are performed with bare-minimum equipment in almost field conditions. As one orthopedic surgeon wrote, “we learn to do our best with whatever we have at hand in the circumstances we find ourselves” and amazingly, have huge success. While none of us would wish to undergo 6-10 hour spinal surgery in similar conditions, the 10 year experiences of the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission may provide some powerful role modeling to reduce current costs for Western spinal care.
Ultimately, however, the true gift of the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission may not be purely medical, despite its huge impact on reducing pain and improving standards of care in 5 different Ugandan hospitals and institutes.
As described by Dr. Krzysztof Kusca, a Polish anesthesiologist who joined the 2011 Uganda team, “ it may lead to barely unimaginable goals. The Uganda Spine Surgery Mission cannot but leave behind some awareness of another world from which people come to share their knowledge, skills and good will, just like that, from the depth of their hearts.’ Dr. Kusca, like many of the other surgeons and volunteers for the past 10 years have discovered, the “experience was the most profound in my years of medical practice. It was a sociological and cultural phenomenon that deeply affected my thoughts and emotions.”
Although the Uganda Spine Surgery Mission is small, its impact is huge in terms of its spirit of compassion, complex surgeries performed, suffering eased and training and education underway.
How can you help increase this “critical mass” to ensure it grows and continues to be sustainable? How, in our own small or large ways can we alleviate human suffering and so become the positive change we would like to see in the world?
The Uganda Spine Surgery Mission and its 19 years of successful achievements may be a powerful model to support.