REPORT
Dates: November 8 through November 14, 2024
Host: Sisters of Nativity Hospital and Convent, Abuja Nigeria
Team members: Alan Kravitz, MD, Rony Ramia, MD, James Babowice, MD, Ayay Jayaraman, MD
Total patients: 48
Peds: 10
Background: The Sisters of Nativity (SON) Hospital and convent is located in Kamu, Nigeria. They provide primary care, OBGYN services, and some surgeries to their community.
Trip report: We arrived on the evening of November 7, 2025, after having flown into Abuja airport. We were met outside the airport by hospital staff, and brought to the SON compound. It is a 50 minute drive over good roads. We arrived at the convent to an enthusiastic welcome.
SON had done some publicity for this mission, so there were patients ready for surgery on Saturday, November 8. In addition, we were screening new patients both before the cases that day, and in between surgeries. Except for two patients with lipomas, all patients had either hernias or
hydroceles.
The adult inguinal hernia surgeries were done under local anesthesia, except for two patients whose
hernias were incarcerated. Pediatric cases were done with IV ketamine and diazepam, which was administered by a local anesthetist.. Almost all of the umbilical, ventral, and epigastic hernias were also done under local anesthesia, though a few were done under spinal anesthesia due to hernia
and patient size.
All surgeries were performed in one operating room. We generally ran two tables in this room synchronously. There were frequent power outages, but fortunately we were prepared and brought headlamps, which
were always useful due to poor OR lighting. The surgical equipment was passable, but not excellent by any means. We had brought two small kits last year, and they were still there but missing some of the instruments. We also brought (and donated) three more surgical trays.
We supplied all of the
sutures and mesh, and the facility provided the gowns and drapes. We also brought some binders for the anterior abdominal wall hernia repairs.
One of the advantages of this mission is that the accommodations in the adjacent convent are terrific. We each had our own room, complete with a bathroom and shower. The air conditioning (when functioning) and comfortable beds allowed us good sleep.
The sisters prepared our meals, and we ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner together every day. They were very gracious and generous hosts. Sunday at SON is Sabbath: no work. This year we went to the big Catholic church in Abuja and attended mass, which was very interesting. We then met with Dr. Austin Ella, who is a senior program manager with Caritas Nigeria, the official relief and development arm of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria.
On Monday we resumed screening patients and performing surgeries. The operating room was very basic. We wore headlamps for better visualization. We did not have any
electrocautery. Using careful dissection there was generally no blood loss. The patients were uniformly grateful. Many of them had been experiencing hernia symptoms for years without access to surgical care. In addition to hernia repairs, we removed several symptomatic lipomas, and several
hydrocelectomies.
This was my third year at Sisters of Nativity, and we will return next year. It has many positive aspects: Very organized host organization, large numbers of patients who need surgical care, pleasant accommodations adjacent to our surgery location, good security, and easy access to an
international airport.