Plastic Surgery Camps

In 2005 Cees Spronk and a medical team visited Mangu to perform operations. From 2006 Cees Spronk and a medical team have gone there twice a year to do so. Since 2007 Interplast Holland has organised and financed the Plastic Surgey Camps in Mangu twice a year. Cees Spronk is in charge of these missions.

The operations are free of charge, but the hospital expenses related to them, are not. Therefore the Faridpur foundation pays € 50,- per patient. We pay € 200,-for children who need rehabilitation and medical aid after their operation.

The willing support of the Nigerian staff; the good name of the hospital and the possibilities for a good after-treatment with physiotherapy and extra rehabilitation make this hospital a good partner for this project.

“What do you find then? It is hardly possible to describe this in a few words. You see a small, very simple hospital with several departments spread over the terrain. You see an enormous veranda, with people everywhere. Such beautiful people. They stand ,sit and lie waiting. But you also see hope, fear and curiosity.” (From Fatima van Klaveren’s report, operation-assistant, 2008)

Plastic Surgery Camp March 2020

After an exploratory meeting at the Spronk family in Oenkerk, during which the members of
the team were able to get to know each other for the first time, we met again at the
Lufthansa desk at Schiphol airport for a flight, via Frankfort, to Abuja, the capital of the
Republic of Nigeria.
After we had installed ourselves on the connecting flight as a group at the back of the plane,
the cabin crew inquired curiously about what we were going to do in Nigeria. When we
explained that we were going to treat children with birth defects and burns for free, we
were showered with praise and received spontaneously upgrades, which we accepted in gratitude.

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Plastic Surgery Camp October 2019

Our team existed of 4 newcomers and 4 veterans to Interplast Missions, led by chef de mission Cees Spronk.
A good mix of experience and curiosity.
Our journey started early morning October 5th. After the last messages using 4G in Germany, it felt like we
really had left. Halfway our flight from Frankfurt to Abuja, my neighbour, out of nowhere, started to talk.
We ended up having discussed the marriage of one of his 11 children he was going to organise in his native
village, his migration to the US, the purpose of our mission and a guarantee: “the people of Plateau state are
nice people, you will be welcomed and have a good time. God bless you and thank you for helping the
people of my country.” What a start.

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Plastic Surgery Camp March 2019

For Suzanne, Gerben and me it was the first time that we went with Interplast. It was therefore very nice that we already had the necessary information in advance from the people who went more often. Moreover, there was also some uncertainty caused by the Nigerian elections, in the period prior to our departure. Fortunately, it became more quiet, and it was decided to continue our journey.
After a long flight via Frankfurt to Abuja, we arrived in the afternoon in Abuja, where Kefas already was waiting for us. We spent the night with the nuns in a nunnery near Abuja, so we didn’t have to travel at night.

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Plastic Surgery Camp October 2018 (Nigeria)

In October 2018 a team of Plastic Surgeons travelled to Nigeria.
In total 111 patients were operated, of which 73 younger than 18 years old and 38 adults. For the larger part the operations regarded contractures, open burn wounds, tumors/keloids and a number of cleft surgeries.
Many patients were referred to an Orthopedist or to the mission in March 2019, when a PediatricUrologist will join us. We have already scheduled 60 patients for surgery.

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Plastic Surgery Camp March 2018 (Nigeria)

There’s much to do for us. In all nearby churches and mosques the medical mission was advertised by Kefas, who describes himself as a nurse but in fact runs the entire hospital. The result of that work is waiting for us on Monday outside the outpatientsdepartment. That day we see a great variety of patients and fortunately we can schedule most of them foran operation in the next two weeks.

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Plastic Surgery Camp October 2017 (Nigeria)

So many serious burns. Children and adults falling into open fires or having boiling water over them. So much misery! In the consultation room there is a poster about the prevention-programme. Only twenty metersaway we see relatives of hospitalisedpatients cooking their meals on open fires onthe hospital site, while young children are walking between these fires.

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