Stichting Interplast Holland

Guinea-ConakryXxxxxxx 9Guinea-ConakryOfficial nameCapitalLocationSurface areaNumber of inhabitantsClimateRepublic of GuineaConakryWest Africa246,000 km²10 milliontropical11 - 24 MarchTeamPlastic surgeonand team leaderPlastic surgeonAnaesthetistAnaesthetic nurseTheatre nurseLocal supportVisited hospitalRein ZeemanEtienne LommenGeert Jan GoekoopEddy HermanusPaula EllenIdrissa CamaraTrusal Friguia (formerPeychine) Hospital, FriaAfter a short visit by Rein Zeeman and Etienne Lommen in2011, the fi rst team was sent out on a fact-fi nding mission.Papingo had travelled earlier from the USA to Guinea-Conakry to prepare for the arrival of the team.When the team arrived it was soon apparent that manyarrangements had unfortunately not been made! The boxesthat had been sent on ahead were still at the airport; theyhad been addressed to the Health Minister, but he was notin the country and could not be reached.Guinea, formerly French Guinea, often called GUINEA-CONAKRY and officially the Republic of Guinea, isconstitutionally a presidential republic in West Africa,situated on the Atlantic Ocean between Guinea-Bissauand Sierra Leone. The capital is Conakry. It is one ofthe least developed countries in the world and has about10 million inhabitants. (It ranks 178 out of 187 on theUnited Nation’s Human Development Index of 2012.)A false start in ConakryThree days and many offi cial bodies later, the boxes wereat last collected at the airport by the team. In Conakry,no hospital to work in had been arranged. Our surgeonProfessor Saadi, who had promised a lot of help, sadlyfailed to show up.The economy thrives mainly on tropical agriculture, fishingand mining. Guinea-Conakry is the second productioncountry for bauxite, with almost half of the world’s bauxitereserves; besides, there is iron ore, and gold anddiamonds are mined. The bauxite production is almostentirely in private hands, 85% of the proceeds go toforeign companies.A new destinationThe initiator of an Interplast programme in Guinea-Conakryis Idrissa Camara (Papingo), Guinean and former Olympicswimmer who has lived in the USA for years but who cameinto contact with Interplast because he was looking for helpfor his nephew Naromba who had a cleft lip and sufferedterribly. Naromba was operated on in 2006 in Ghana byan Interplast Holland team (see 2006 Annual Review).Naromba in 2006 and 2011