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Field Conditions: Wangmo Thapa

As we are in the winter months, electricity has become unreliable here in Dolpa. I have limited cell phone access while I am travelling to patients, and since supplies must be flown in, they are quite expensive. Nonetheless, I continue my work, and I am proud to work with my community. 

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Patient Story

Medical Facility: ACCESS Location: Nakaseke District, Uganda

3 months ago, a 22 year old woman delivered a baby at our hospital. She recently came back for a follow-up visit. The problem is that she is HIV positive and wants to breastfeed her baby. However, breastfeeding presents a high risk of HIV transmission.

The baby, until now, was healthy with no HIV. But in Uganda there is a lot of social pressure on women to breastfeed; every mother does it. So if you don’t, then your community assumes there is something wrong with you. Some women are afraid to disclose their HIV status. They breastfeed even when they are aware of the transmission risk. With this patient, a lot of counseling was needed to convince her not to breastfeed her baby. In the end, we were successful. The mother has been treated and the baby is not being breastfed and continues to be healthy.

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Location: Kathmandu, Nepal

Sajana is an 11-year-old girl from a remote mountain village in Central Nepal. One day, about 6 months ago, she slipped while at a local market and knocked over a pan of boiling oil. The oil caused severe burns on her legs. Her mother took her to a government hospital in Kathmandu, but then abandoned her because she was not able to walk after the accident. She could not straighten her legs anymore.

Fortunately, Sajana's aunt stepped in to care for her. She contacted me and brought me to the hospital to see her. Thankfully, I could operate on her to release the debilitating burn scar contracture that had formed on her right knee.The surgery went well, and she was able toextend her leg. This would allow her to walk again. As Sajana was wheeled out of the operating room, she smiled and gave me a thumbs up. "Sajana is excited because now she will be able to walk to school without having to use crutches," Sajana's aunt said.

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Here I am with members of my community in Dolpa

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The Story of My Bus

To get to patients in the rural countryside of Ecuador is very difficult. The villages are often very remote, located at long distances from each other on unpaved roads. A few years ago, I was lucky to receive a bus as a reward for my efforts. This enables me to reach children in need in the most remote and isolated locations. I spend long hours on the road, and every time I step onto the bus, I am grateful that I can now treat children I otherwise would not have reached. 

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If a person has both hands and fingers burnt, and they can’t even feed themselves, when you open up those hands, that person gets his life back.

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Patient Story: Agnes

Medical Facility: Holy Virika Hospital Location: Fort Portal, Uganda

Agnes is the mother of a beautiful little baby of 5.5 pounds. She is a 13 year old school girl who dropped out and came to our hospital with a very bad tear in her vaginal wall (i.e. fistula). It happened during the delivery of her baby, while pushing. This is common for very young girls giving birth, as their bodies are not yet fully developed. Agnes was alone and hiding from her parents. Since then, the 4th degree tear caused her to be incontinent. Luckily, we have now repaired her and she has regained her dignity.

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At our hospital in Guayaquil 

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I was set on being a fighter pilot as a child, but before I was admitted to the Air Force Academy, I read a book that completely changed my path. The book was about the 1985 Nobel Prize winner Dr. Albert Schweitzer’s life, and it inspired me to become a medical doctor, to choose a professional career based on humanitarianism.

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Here I am, getting ready to operate. 

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My patients and myself at Holy Virika Hospital 

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Doctor Fact: Doctor Jovic

I moved to Zambia to serve as the country’s only plastic surgeon, I worked as a receptionist at a hostel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. I earned $4.00 per day, slept behind the reception desk, and worked from 5:00 pm to 8:00 am. Then I traveled to Harare, Zimbabwe where I lived for 3 months at another hostel before moving to Zambia.

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Examining patients at a clinic in Zambia 

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Surgery Report: Doctor Maggi

Medical Facility: West Africa Fistula Foundation  Location: Bo, Sierra Leone

Neima, female, from Sierra Leone, treated for a fistula in September 2013, treatment outcome successful

Wuya, female, from Sierra Leone, treated for a fistula in September 2013, treatment outcome successful                          

Yeawoma, female, from Sierra Leone, treated for a fistula in September 2013, treatment outcome successful

Fatu, female, from Sierra Leone, treated for a fistula in September 2013, treatment outcome successful

Mariama, female, from Sierra Leone, treated for ruptured tubal pregnancy in Sept./Oct. 2013, treatment outcome successful

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Patient Story: Doctor Maggi

Medical Facility: West Africa Fistula Foundation (WAFF) Location: Bo, Sierra Leone Surgery Outcome: Successful

One of our young female patients had a tubal pregnancy and was bleeding profusely internally as a result. If we weren't there, she would have surely died. Fortunately, the surgery was successful. She is now home, reunited with her family and in very good shape!

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It is not how much work we do in maternal health, but the love with which we do it.

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With one of my patients and her daughter at our clinic in Bo.