Möhnesee/Hamm, 01.04.2025. A ten-strong team of surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, anaesthetists and nurses travelled to Tosamaganga Hospital in Tanzania again in mid-February. Under the direction of Dr Naim Farhat, Head of Paediatric Surgery at the Johanniter-Kliniken Hamm, the specialists worked in two teams and were able to operate on a total of 48 children during the 16-day mission.
After a 36-hour journey, over 90 children were already waiting for the Archemed team — a total of 118 children presented themselves to the team of surgeons. This time, the high number of patients with severe burns was striking. ‘The four-year-old Kiliba remains firmly in our memories: she suffers from old burn injuries, especially to her hand and arm, which have led to severe deformities to her hand and fingers,’ reports Hammer operating theatre nurse Stefan Zug, ’the surgical treatment of children with burn injuries is generally very complex, Kiliba’s operation took a total of six hours.’ In addition to treating the many children with burns, the focus was on complicated orthopaedic malformations such as hip dislocations or malformations and clubfeet.
However, medical development aid means much more than operational care. Another focus of the mission was the training and further education of local specialists. ‘It’s great to see that we can already observe further development in our second mission at Tosamaganga Hospital,’ says project manager Dr Naim Farhat happily, ’the collaboration with the local specialists is intensive and enriching.’ For the first time, a team was formed together with the Tanzanian paediatrician and nursing staff for the aftercare of patients. In this context, for example, a treatment plan was drawn up. As well as the children, the local specialists in particular benefit from the German team’s work. However, the development aid is also a great enrichment for assistant doctors such as Sergio Bendeck from the Hammer Johanniter clinics — both professionally and personally.
Archemed plans to continue supporting Tosamaganga Hospital in the future with expertise, medical equipment and materials in order to further improve the quality of treatment and give children a better future. Archemed is asking for donations to continue the project: www.archemed.org/spenden, donation account IBAN: DE63 4145 0075 0000 0882 03 (Sparkasse Hellweg-Lippe).
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The team was accompanied by filmmaker Janis Farhat in 2024. The result is a 40-minute documentary that can be viewed online here: www.project-tosa.de/film