WEST AFRICA FISTULA FOUNDATION
UPDATE – March 2010
Dear Friends and Supporters,
We are pleased to report another extremely productive trip. What a rejuvenating experience to see the Sierra Leonean team step up and work very efficiently and hard to help the underprivileged people of Sierra Leone. We performed over 40 surgeries this trip and have some very happy women and children.
As most of you are aware we are in the process of building a Medical Center that will serve all of West Africa. We now have approximately 40 acres of land we have purchased to build on. We were very fortunate to have Mike Henderson one of the founders of www.heartofafrica.org accompany us. Mike has volunteered to help us through all phases of the building project in Bo. His major challenge will be raising the money to build the Medical Center we have all dreamed. My son Deno and son-n-law Colby Crenshaw also made the trip and was there for the first week of our journey and had a great time. Dr. Dahan Sheref who continues to support, facilitate and promote our project in many different ways.
Saleh Yahya a Sierra Leonean has joined our team and has offered to volunteer his time to help oversee the financial arm of WAFF in Sierra Leone. Saleh has a kind and beautiful wife along with 5 wonderful children and is dedicated to seeing the completion of the Medical Center.
We are uniting with Maternal Life International via Dr. Bob Scanlon, Dr. George Mulcaire-Jones and Ray Rogers to plan for the West Africa Medical Center (WAMC).
We were very pleased and surprised to hear that we (West Africa Fistula Foundation) were awarded the BEST NGO in the Southern Province of Sierra Leone for the year 2009. Dr. A. Philip Koroma our Medical Director was named the Doctor of the Year in Sierra Leone. Congratulations to Dr. Koroma.
WAFF also received a “CIVIC AWARD” from Bo District Development Association (BODDA) for “Charity Organization of the year 2009.
We cannot rest on these laurels as we have ONLY BEGUN because we continue to see so much NEEDLESS suffering in Sierra Leone and conditions that are so easily treated for very little money or very advanced conditions that could have easily been prevented. Something that just makes me sick is the number of women that continue to come in with very advanced cancer and unfortunately all we can do is send them back to the village to die because we do not have the facilities to treat these women.
We will end on a very pleasant note. Jim Stewart my friend since childhood in Wilburton, Oklahoma continues to fund ice cream for the children near our residence in Bo, Sierra Leone. This last time we had 97 children receive ice cream, many for the first time in their life.
Our thanks go to Jim who continues to say “every child should at least have an Ice Cream”.
Bottom line we appreciate your continued support and concern for the people of Sierra Leone and want to tell you thanks for allowing us to continue to serve the poorest of the poor.
Darius R. Maggi M.D.
dariusmaggi@yahoo.com www.westafricafistulafoundation.org 903-463-9400
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