Connaught Hospital, in Freetown, is the main referral hospital in Sierra Leone and the only public hospital providing care for patients who cannot afford a fee-for-service facility. Hope for Lives visits the hospital on EVERY visit to Salone, delivering donated medical supplies and providing meals to hundreds of patients and staff. Over 30+ doctors, surgeons, nurses and technicians have GENEROUSLY volunteered to be a part of the 10-day mission. The volunteers pay their own airfare to Sierra Leone. All other expenses for lodging, transportation, food, visas, etc. must be raised by our organization.
To raise funds for the mission, we're ramping up our fundraising effort on CrowdRise. Our biggest challenge is that the hospital has literally no equipment or supplies. Every piece of equipment, every device, all surgical tools our team needs to fulfill their mission MUST BE SHIPPED PRIOR TO THEIR ARRIVAL. A goal of $50,000 has been set to raise funds for shipping the equipment and providing for the volunteers. The equipment and supplies we send for the mission have to be secured through donations by generous hospitals and healthcare facilities in the U.S. When our mission is complete, all of this specialized equipment will remain at Connaught Hospital as part of our plan to rehabilitate the facility, provide for future missions, and progressively improve the quality of care for all of those served.
The lead coordinator for the mission, Malik Jalloh-Jamboria is a CRNA who’s managed several medical missions abroad. His energy and determination is a great asset, helping to make this dream a reality. Malik has made it his personal mission to rehabilitate Connaught Hospital. This is a multi-faceted effort that will continue for many exciting years to come. Even after volunteers return to the U.S. we’ll provide continued support to the hospital and plan for the next mission, in the spring of 2015.
UPDATE: Due to the spread of the Ebola virus in West Africa, we have been asked by the Ministry of Health to delay our medical mission and focus all efforts on supporting the treatment of Ebola.