2024 Open-Heart Mission - Dr. Mike Monaco
Join me in saving children's lives in Nigeria!
In September of 2024, I will be returning to Oraifite, Nigeria to participate in an open-heart medical mission with the VOOM Foundation.
Our team will utilize our expertise to train and educate the local cardiac staff at the Dame Irene Okwuosa Memorial Hospital. We will also focus our care on underserved children who cannot afford the high cost of open-heart surgery.
In 2013, there was not a single facility in Nigeria where you could receive heart surgery. The VOOM Foundation changed all that by partnering with local hospitals, providing infrastructure, equipment and supplies to start a local program. VOOM Foundation medical teams travel into the country several times a year with two goals...to teach and to serve a population that otherwise would not receive care.
I attended the pediatric mission in November 2022 and October 2023. We performed 28 open heart surgeries over the last two years. Last year we had a list of over 250 kids waiting for surgery. This year we are really looking forward to helping even more children that need it. This September we will be running two operating rooms simultaneously and bringing multiple surgeons in order to help as many kids as we can.
I am really looking forward to serving in this capacity, sharing a smile, building connections and leaving a sustainable impact.
If you feel called, I am raising funds to help cover the extra costs of medical supplies, patient scholarships for the children receiving surgery, and supporting the mission of the VOOM Foundation in order to help the people we will serve with hopes of building a healthier and more resilient community.
With much love and gratitude,
Mike