The medical mission commences from the 4^th-10^th December 2021. Consultations and all surgeries will take place at Hôpital Principal De Dakar. Due to the current wave of COVID-19, safety precautions will be amplified and implemented on sites to ensure that all regulations are being met or exceeded.

This will be the 14^th year in a row that the R.E.S.T.O.R.E team and Dr. Obeng have embarked on such a humanitarian mission. Other countries in the past have included Gabon, Guatemala, Laos, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana, Dr. Obeng’s home country of birth.

The management of Hôpital Principal De Dakar, Professor Abdou Razac Ndiaye and Dr. Lam are thrilled to be welcoming and hosting this year's medical mission. The procedures to be performed includes but not limited to:

• Head and neck tumour resection and reconstruction
• Burn reconstruction
• Breast reduction
• Mastectomies and breast reconstruction
• Trunk and extremities reconstruction
• Abdominal wall reconstruction
• Excisions of benign tumours
• Intersex surgeries
• Foot and ankle surgeries

“It is very humbling to be able to change the narrative in a community, and to be able to bring hope into communities that have been devastated because somebody does not look like ‘all of us’. I'm very thankful to all the volunteers over the years, the ones who have donated money, ones who have donated their time, and the ones who pray for us. Without none of these people, all the good work we have done wouldn’t have been possible,” says Dr. Michael K Obeng.

This year’s team is comprised of 34 medical volunteers from five different countries and three different continents. Some of the returning volunteers include Dawn Sutherland, former Xerox Executive and Director of International Relations for R.E.S.T.O.R.E, Dr. Barry Freeman, Chief of Anaesthesia services MiKO Plastic Surgery in Beverly Hills and Dr. Paa-Ekow Hoyte-Williams, Chief of Plastic Surgery at Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, Ghana. Dr. Mehmet Atila, Director at The Medical Inn in Düsseldorf, Germany and Dr. Bertin Dembele from Mali, will be among the list of volunteers.  

The medical mission to Senegal has been made possible by LocAfrique’s General Director, Khadim BA, who shares the same sentiments as Dr. Obeng that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation.

“We are very pleased to be part of this selfless humanitarian medical mission which will unquestionably afford our communities access to world-class healthcare that is generally out of their reach”, concludes Mr Khadim BA, General Director at LocAfrique.