Our Heartfelt Missions Continue
After receiving a life-saving heart procedure this week in Tanzania, Jasmine was joined by the Israeli team on her journey home with a healthy heart. It’s so powerful to see the impact of our work during these medical missions as every child deserves access to life-saving heart care.
With our goal of expanding pediatric cardiac care worldwide, we're excited to share that Dr. Stella and Dr. Deo, with the support of mentor Dr. Sagi Assa, performed their first solo catheterization. Our training program helps increase access to cardiac care for children in need, and we're proud to work with our partners in Tanzania to make this milestone possible.
Save a Child’s Heart was founded to bring life-saving pediatric cardiac care to children in countries around the world like Tanzania where care is very limited. After a two-year pause due to COVID-19, we are proud to return to our mission work – which includes catheterizations and exams – in Tanzania in Spring 2022.
Upon arrival, our team worked with local partners to unpack supplies and prepare for the mission ahead. On day one, our team of doctors, including Dr. Sagi Assa, Dr. Stella Mongella, and Dr. Deo Nkya performed three life-saving catheterizations with the support of the Israeli and Tanzanian medical teams.
Save a Child’s Heart is thrilled to return to Tanzania where we have previously conducted 13 surgical and 17 screening missions to Tanzania, treating over 950 children from Tanzania and Zanzibar.
The lead doctors on our trip will be Dr. Sagi Assa and Dr. Stella Mongella, who will be joined by a cath lab team. Dr. Mongella, who is originally from Tanzania, has been studying with Save a Child’s Heart in Israel through our trainee program for the last three years. The plan is for her to undertake a solo catheterization during the mission.
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As we work to provide access to cardiac care for children in urgent need, we've been able to treat children like Gladness, a four-year-old with a congenital heart defect. Our efforts have been able to provide her with a life-saving catherization during our mission in Tanzania.
24 Tanzanian Medical Professionals Trained
Over a 12 year period, we have trained 24 medical team members from the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI) in Tanzania. Currently, Tanzania has only one pediatric cardiac surgeon, Dr. Godwin Godfrey, who completed a five-year SACH training program, and now runs the pediatric cardiac center at JKCI alongside a full SACH-trained pediatric cardiac team.
Dr. Godwin, one of SACH's medical trainees from Tanzania, was trained in Israel and has now become Tanzania's first pediatric cardiac surgeon. During our mission, Dr. Godwin was joined by Dr. Loth to perform life-saving heart procedures, helping save the lives of over a dozen children.
Throughout our mission, we've been able to save numerous lives, including Nurdin who is a two-year-old boy. Our team of Israeli and Tanzanian doctors are working together to perform life-saving cardiac catheterizations so these children can go on to live long and healthy lives.
