Our CSI Liberia team is hard at work at Firestone Duside Hospital this week.  They are on pace to complete 110 surgeries during this mission. Our volunteers are also dedicated to building self-sufficiency through education for our medical partners in Liberia— bringing hope to children, families and communities around the world, one child at a time.

Here are some trip highlights from our team members:

Jerrlyne, 5 years, arrived for screening day after a three-hour motorcycle taxi ride with her mother, who heard on the radio about CSI’s visit to Firestone Duside Hospital. Yesterday, Jerrlyne went home after having her umbilical and inguinal hernias repaired. Her mother was so grateful.

Walking patients, or carrying them if they’re a baby, back to the OR is by far my favorite part of this mission. We do two surgeries in one OR and my partner CRNA John Erlandson was able to get some action shots. We each did 11 general surgeries – exhausting but all so worth it.

– CSI volunteer Patrick Faunillan, CRNA

CSI not only provides free surgical services to children in need – we teach others to do the same. CSI volunteer, Patty Akers, is pictured here sharing knowledge with her Liberian colleague Alice Sayndee, RN.

Tuesday morning we were greeted by the mothers in our 25-bed ward singing an amazingly lovely song for our benefit, complete with harmony, clapping and a parade around the post-surgical ward. It moved me to tears. If anyone’s counting, 37 patients, each with a parent, several siblings of the patients and seven nurses, made for over 87 beautiful people in one room. 

– CSI volunteer Cindy Markham, RN

Patience met the CSI Liberia team in 2010 after her mosquito netting caught fire, leaving her with severe burns. During the healing process, she was left with scars that hardened and shortened the area between her neck and shoulder. CSI performed surgery to repair this contracture, and now, 10 years later, she is able to move her head freely. “CSI was a beautiful gift,” Patience says.

– CSI volunteer Louann Randall, RN