On October 6, 2007, the day we arrived in Nalerigu, we were told about an amazing surgery Dr. Faile had performed that evening.

A Fulani family with no money sought treatment in Accra for a large anterior meningocele (a form of spina bifida) which extended from the midline of the child’s face. The family couldn’t afford the (approximately) $100 fees for tests, so they traveled north to Nalerigu where they had heard an American doctor was working.

Dr. Faile prayed about the surgery, agreed to try and did his best. There was only fluid in the sac and no nervous tissue.The baby recovered miraculously well from surgery, and was discharged a week later.

The family did not return for follow-up until 6 months later. Dr. Hewitt emailed ups this last photo from the child’s checkup. I know that it was a great encouragement for Dr. Faile to finally have follow-up on such a rare and risky operation.

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While many Americans are healthier than ever before, minorities and the poor are more likely to get cancer and die from the disease.  Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida focused on the crisis of health disparities during National Minority Cancer Awareness Week (NMCAW), April 20-26.

Heidi has been doing a rotation at Moffitt this month and through her contacts there I was invited to display my It Pains O’ Why portrait series at the final event of NMCAW at Moffitt. Though the specific focus of the event was on the health issues of American minorities Moffitt realizes the need for health care and education reaches beyond our nation and around the globe.

I was very honored to display my photos in such a prestigious health center and enjoyed sharing the work that BMC has been doing in Ghana. You can support BMC’s work by purchasing a print of one of my photographs and the profits from the sale go entirely to the George Faile Foundation.

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As a medical student at USF, I received school credit for my work in Nalerigu, last Fall under the school’s International Health Elective program. I’m now in my last week of medical school and had to turn in a slideshow to my professor that gave an overview of my experiences at the hospital.

While in Ghana we tried to avoid too much “geek speak” (as William calls it) and we also avoided posting some of the more graphic medical images (“What?” you’re thinking, “More graphic than the finger amputation?!”).

For those interested in the more technical explanations of some of the cases and for those with more of a stomach for graphic images, we’ve posted the slideshow online.

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