On our first trip to Sierra Leone in May 2006, no one was more popular than our physician, Dr. André Panossian. As the infrastructure for the country was decimated during the civil war, the ability for local and foreign medical aide to reach remote areas decreased dramatically. Since the end of the war many organizations and individuals are trying to draw attention to the great need for the most basic medical care. In conjunction with these efforts, The Gondobay Manga Foundation is also allied with Malaria No More–the Millenium Promise Fund’s organization dedicated to providing chemically treated bed nets to every household in Africa.
May 25, 2006 Dr. Andre Panossian examines a cyst on a boy’s back on Bunce Island.
May 25, 2006 Tony Hubbard assists Dr. Andre Panossian as they prepare to remove the cyst.
May 28, 2006 A local man holds the line of villages waiting to see Dr. Panossian in the makeshift clinic set up in Ngalu Village on the day of Isaiah’s induction.
May 28, 2006 Isaiah Washington and Dr. Panossian examine a boy in Ngalu Village.
May 28, 2006 Dr. Panossian works with the nurses to see the children first.
May 28, 2006 After discovering a young boy in Njala Kendema with debris from a stick embedded in his cheek, Isaiah Washington carries him to the back of his vehicle so that Dr. Panossian can perform impromptu surgery.
May 28, 2006 Dr. Panossian prepares to remove the stick from the boy’s face as Isaiah Washington assists.
May 28, 2006 The bandaged young boy after the stick has been removed.
February 14, 2007 Fully recovered from the surgery Dr. Panossian performed on his face in May 2006, Ambrose Wudie poses with Sonya Gay Bourn in his home village Njala Kendema.
February 6, 2007 Ambrose Wudie has become more social since the stick was removed from his face.
May 29, 2006 Isaiah Washington in a dilapidated clinic at Tongo Fields.
