PHOTO: CSI medical team with children attending the Harbel Community Kindergarten and Elementary School in Margibi County
- The 2023 mission marks the 12th year of the partnership between Firestone Liberia and Children’s Surgery International.
- The medical mission focuses on improving the health of infants and young adults through health care and medical procedures.
- Providing free medical care to children in need illustrates the value ‘Empowerment,’ one of the eight values outlined in the Bridgestone E8 Commitment.
Harbel, Liberia – Firestone Liberia Medical Center, in partnership with the American surgical team with Children’s Surgery International (CSI), provided free medical care to 80 Liberian children and young adults during its 12th mission in Liberia, a Firestone Liberia press release said at the weekend (January 20, 2023.
The CSI medical team partners with Firestone Liberia, through its Firestone Medical Center, to provide free medical support and emergency care to children with various urological and surgical needs.
The surgeries benefitted infants to 20-year-olds who registered for screening at the Firestone Medical Center at Duside. Surgeons provided free medical services related to several different health issues during the five-day surgical mission.
“I want to thank Firestone Liberia for this life-changing venture. My son has been suffering hernia pains since birth. We have not had the finances to seek medication out of Liberia, so we were glad to take advantage of this glorious opportunity. I will forever remember Firestone Liberia and the CSI team,” Assatou Barry, mother of a five-year-old child.
“We are excited to celebrate more than 10 years of partnering to help serve the unmet medical needs in Liberia,” said Rick Burnett, President, Firestone Natural Rubber. “Having had the opportunity to see this mission firsthand during past trips, I know the positive impact that is created by CSI and Firestone working together.”
The Medical Director at Firestone Medical Center, Dr. Benedict Wollor, said, “This year, we registered nearly 300 children from all over Liberia for surgeries in different categories, and the CSI team conducted surgical operations on 80 Liberian children. Firestone Medical Center is looking at continuing surgeries after the departure of the CSI team for children between the ages of 5-10 years who registered but did not benefit from the CSI mission.”
The 12th CSI mission to Liberia was headed by Lora Koppel. “We keep coming to Liberia because the people are so welcoming. We want to do whatever we can to help Liberian children. This is one of our favorite missions because of the way Firestone and the Liberian community take care of us. Thanks to everyone who has worked hard to make this mission successful. We will definitely be coming back in 2024,” said Lora.
The CSI medical team also conducted lectures and medical training during this year’s mission. The team conducted free Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training and general first aid training for staff, medic, and paramedics at the LEAD Football Academy in Careysburg, outside of Monrovia.
“I was taught how to do mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, and how to put myself in the right position to do the CPR correctly. This is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for me,” said Patience Flomo, a medic at the LEAD football academy.
CSI began its 12th mission to Liberia by distributing preventative treatment medications and school materials to several schools, communities and marketplaces in and around Firestone Liberia. More than 4,000 people from several schools, communities and marketplaces in the Firestone community were de-wormed.