Stichting Interplast Holland

20 NigeriaNigeriaOfficial nameCapitalLocationSurface areaNumber of inhabitantsClimatethe Federal Republic of NigeriaAbujaWest Africa923,768 km²140 millionfrom tropical to sub-tropical7 - 24 MarchTeamPlastic surgeonand team leaderCees SpronkPlastic surgeonJan HochtrittAssistant plastic surgeon Hanneke TielemansAnaesthetistIna GroustraTheatre nursesFemke AnnemaAnnette BrouwerAnaesthetic nurse Aafke LautenbachVisited hospitalCOCIN Hospital &Rehabilitation Centre, Mangu6 - 21 OctoberTeamPlastic surgeonCees Spronkand team leaderPlastic surgeonJan Willem KortleveAssistant plastic surgeon Marije SmitenbergAnaesthetistRob NiemeijerTheatre nursesFatima van KlaverenGeert WijnsmaAnaesthetic nurse Geke HoeksmaVisited hospitalCOCIN Hospital &Rehabilitation Centre, ManguThe country is located in West Africa and shares landborders with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad andCameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Nigeria isroughly divided in half between Muslims, concentratedmostly in the north, and Christians, who mostly live in theSouth. Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa anddespite huge oil revenues there is still great poverty.March mission able to go aheadAgain it was a tense situation beforehand as to whether themission would go ahead or not. In Jos the situation isstrained because of confl icts between Christians andMuslims. Unfortunately, attacks are a daily occurrencethough luckily Mangu is about 80 kilometres away from Jos.Thanks to our people on the ground we know that Manguitself is fairly unaffected by all the unrest.Many patients waiting for the team to arriveAfter 12 missions the arrival of a plastic surgery team fromthe Netherlands is a familiar occurrence in the wider region.There are always a lot of people waiting to see the plasticsurgeons, who this time were Cees Spronk, Jan Hochtrittand assistant Hanneke Tielemans.This time the team stayed for two and half weeks andoperated on almost 100 patients, half of whom had post burncontractures. It is obvious that care for burns patients is nonexistenthere. Cees Spronk hopes that with the aid of theFaridpur Foundation and Interplast Holland, for one thing,this lack can be remedied and a burns centre set up.Courage certificates are highly appreciatedHere is an extract from the report of Hanneke Tielemans whowas on a mission for the fi rst time: ‘The anaesthesia teambrought with them small gifts and a Courage Certifi cate forall the young children who had to be operated on. After thefi rst day, we noticed that the adults were also extremely keento have a certifi cate. In fact, we heard through the nursesthat somebody had failed to be given one. So from day twoonwards every patient was awarded a Courage Certifi cate’.The team worked well together and the atmosphere waspleasant. The operations went well and there was one case