Nigeria 2005

Having always dreamed of traveling to Africa the team took its first trip to Nigeria.  The trip was organized with the hospital of Mile four in the city of Enugu.  The team made a make shaft operating rooms from the laboratory building dedicated to test patients with TB and Leprosy.  The laboratory is located inside one of the few leprosy colonies  left in the world. We worked 14-16 hours every day running three operating rooms simultaneously.

Date of Mission: May 7-17, 2005
Number of cases: 107
Type of cases: Cases ranged from infants with hernias and cleft lips to adults benign and malignant tumors
Members of the mission: Medhat Allam, Ravi Kothuru, Joseph DeBellis, Bob Mineo, Rajesh Patel, Grace McCarthy, Michael Sherwood, Christopher Torres, Maryellen Spandonsi, Ellen Herfield, Stephanie Porey, Erin O'Driscol

Population: 127,000,000

Density 137 people/Km2

Fertility rate : 5.8 children/woman

Life expectancy : 46 years

Urban population 46%