Roanoke, Virginia – January 11, 2024 – Women Orthopaedist Global Outreach (WOGO) announces the location of their next medical mission. In 2025, the team will return to Arusha, Tanzania to work at the Arusha Lutheran Medical Centre (ALMC) hospital. Dr. Robyn Hakanson, WOGO surgeon and founding member stated, “We are so delighted with the work […]
Archive | Tanzania
Reaching out Beyond the Hospitals
Our mission carries further than our work to complete joint replacement surgeries in developing countries. We want to empower, educate and engage women and their larger communities. Empower–WOGO provides free life-altering orthopaedic surgery that eliminates debilitating arthritis and restores disabled joints so that patients can reclaim their ability to care for themselves, their families and […]
Why do you volunteer with a medical team? (You’re not a doctor!)
I am often asked why I volunteer for a medical team when I’m not a medical person. Why would I want to spend vacation time in a hospital? It surprises me, not because I love being in hospitals (I actually don’t!) but because I love being with people and giving back to others. I don’t […]
Volunteers are Selfish (no, really!)
This week at work the company held a Volunteer Fair. As part of the fair I was asked to participate in a video about why I volunteer. It got me thinking. I spoke about my time volunteering for WOGO and what it means to me. Why do I volunteer? Turns out it’s for purely selfish […]
generosity n.
generosity noun gen·er·os·i·ty \ˌje-nə-ˈrä-sə-tē\ 1: willingness to give or to share <He shows generosity to those in need.> 2: an act of unselfish giving <Her generosity was appreciated.> (Merriam Webster Dictionary) Sometimes the day-to-day work, and the excitement of planning and executing get in the way of reflection. WOGO has been incorporated since 2009 and […]
Hugs! Shoes! Smiles! Hugs!
This morning we visited with our patients for last goodbyes. We really will miss their smiles and hugs. Boy were they generous with them. Smiles and hugs all around. It is always so touching and bittersweet to leave our patients. We know that they are recovering well and we know that they are in excellent hands with the hospital […]
What an Adventure!
We’ve been having a very busy week. We’ve operated on 32 patients, replacing 44 knee joints and we had 4 patients that only needed injections. That’s 36 patients in all – operated on in 3+ days – we are quite proud of those numbers! Led by our surgeons, the team presented an educational symposium for doctors, nurses […]
Our Operation Walk Family
We are well into our second full day of surgery with 11 patients completed and a total of 17 joints replaced in the first day and a bit. Our patients are doing well, the team is jelling, and the hospital staff are rocking and rolling. It’s been a good ride so far and any bumps have […]
Marathon First Day
This morning we had the exciting experience of meeting our patients. We saw all of the prospective patients we had pre-screened plus 15 additional patients who heard we were in town. We were greeted with lots of smiling faces. The patients were by and large very excited to meet with the Surgeons and Doctors. We […]
Sorting Our Stuff
Medical missions utilize a lot of stuff. And when I say a lot, I mean it, Nine-thousand-pounds of stuff. And that isn’t counting the 20 bags of other Stuff that the early team hauled across the sea. This means that our first day on the ground in Arusha was spent sorting more than 400 boxes […]