No medical experience but very enthusiastic!

This blog aims to be a brief insight into the wonderful work carried out by Rafiki Surgical Missions during the mission to Mwanza, Tanzania April 2014.

I became involved with this charity last year when my husband and I were invited to a ball in Perth- who could have known that this would lead me volunteering with the surgical team for a week in Mwanza. I have no medical experience, do not speak Swahili and have never done any sort of charity work before, however since learning about this charity I have been amazed by the generosity, dedication and passion of those involved; it has really changed my outlook.

Rafiki Surgical Missions is a fantastic charity that directly helps children and young adults in Tanzania affected by burns or facial deformities such as cleft lips - these simple operations that are so common in Australia just do not happen in Africa and can lead to children and in some cases the whole villages where they live being shunned from society, with little prospects. 

Rafiki is a Perth based charity that is 100% volunteer funded and every dollar goes directly to the cause and as the charity actually delivers the benefit they have complete control to ensure that there is no waste.They generally run two surgical missions a year; in the last 10 years they have 'fixed up' over 1000 young people. They also arrange to collect and deliver waste medical equipment and supplies to Tanzania and have sent equipment that would be destroyed here in Australia with a replacement value of over $7m.

I hope to be able to post each day I am with the team in Mwanza and share with you some of the stories from the people they help. 

We all fly out of Perth on Friday 4th April 2014.

The views contained in this blog are my own and do not represent those of Rafiki Surgical Missions or the other volunteers; for further information about Rafiki see http://www.asanterafiki.com or https://www.facebook.com/rafikisurgicalmissions.