In August 2026, I hope to be part of an anesthesia team that will travel to Kakamega, Kenya and deliver anesthetic care. The plan would be to provide free surgical services for a week at the County General hospital. This group is part of a larger organization (Operation International), and the focus of this specific medical mission would be to provide free hysterectomies and myomectomies to women in need of care. This team will be making a difference in the chosen community because it will provide services to a population of individuals who may not have access to healthcare, or may not have the means to pay for their access to healthcare. I will be working alongside OBGYN surgeons who I already have the pleasure of working with in the U.S. to bring our respective expertises to Kakamega, and my hope is to provide the anesthesia for cases so that my surgical colleagues can successfully operate. The hope is that by providing a week of free surgical services, the team can decrease the amount of patients in the area who are in need of surgical care, and decrease the strain on the community’s resources. This medical mission will help support the work already being done in Kakamega, while also hoping to impart some of our practices and learn from the practices of providers in Kakamega.
The focus of this group will be women in Kakamega who will need hysterectomies or myomectomies. The patient population was chosen by the organization based on the needs in the area, as well as the volunteering of time by a group of OBGYN surgeons. The hope is to provide other obstetric or gynecologic services while the team is there, but the focus will be on hysterectomies and myomectomies because of their impact.
The expected impact is to help bolster women's health in the area, specifically maternal health. Uterine fibroids significantly impact a woman's day to day functioning. They can be a source of immense pain and bleeding for women, and can impact fertility. By providing free myomectomies, the team would be helping alleviate a significant source of pain for these women, while also helping promote maternal health. By the same token, the team (and specifically myself) will be able to learn from the experience by being exposed to how different cultures and organizations provide care for their patients. We can then bring back the new customs and practices, and incorporate it into our own daily practice. I am excited to collaborate with anesthesia providers in Kenya, and learn how they approach anesthetic planning and how it differs from my own experiences in the U.S. I hope that the two groups can come together and share with one another experiences we have come across when providing anesthesia. I also hope that the experience, and all of the knowledge that comes with this medical mission, will help me in future medical missions. I hope that I can carry my experiences forward, and continue to contribute to the medical mission landscape.
In August 2026, I was part of a group of individuals who traveled to Vihiga County, Kenya to provide surgical services centered around women's health. The team screened 225 patients and were able to provide surgery for 49 patients. Surgeries included total abdominal hysterectomies, vaginal hysterectomies, myomectomies, tubal ligations, bilateral salpingectomies, and perineal tear repairs. Thanks to our mission chief, Dr. Elisa Lansdowne, the team not only performed the first laparoscopic gynecological surgeries in the county, but Dr. Lansdowne helped train the local OBGYN surgeons on how to continue performing laparoscopic surgeries after the mission. One of the goals of this group was to not only serve the women of Vihiga County, but to empower the local medical team. We were able to work alongside local surgeons, medical students, scrub techs, nursing staff, and anesthesia providers.
My role in the medical mission was as the CRNA of the group, helping to provide anesthesia. It was great being able to support the surgeons as they performed these various surgeries. Even more fulfilling was that I got to work alongside the local anesthetists. I got to collaborate with them on how to provide anesthesia with the limited resources, learning from them and, hopefully, them learning from me.
After the end of our surgical services, the group held a community outreach event for all schoolgirls of Kakamega County from fourth through ninth grade. As a group, we purchased 100 reusable sanitary kits from an organization called Days for Girls, as well as some single use menstrual products. Approximately 680 young women showed up, and we were able to pass out the kits, and demonstrate how to use the reusable sanitary kits. The hope was to destigmatize menstruation, and to increase awareness on how to handle menstruation each month.
The overall mission feels like it was successful because of the people serving and the people we served. It was a true privilege to get to be a part of group focused on supporting and empowering women's health.
