Don Bosco Fambul Hospital hosts medical team offering range of services
(MissionNewswire) Don Bosco Fambul Hospital, along with its partners from Spain, conducted a medical outreach program early this year in During Town, Peninsula, Sierra Leone. The medical team, consisting of specialized eye doctors from Visió Sense Fronteres, offered a wide range of services including diagnoses and treatments for various eye conditions.
Care provided also included detailed examinations, prescriptions for corrective lenses and necessary surgical interventions. During the medical camp, 212 people received cataract surgeries.
A Salesian said, “We extend our heartfelt gratitude to all the generous donors and partners who supported and made this impactful mission possible.”
The hospital is part of the broader Don Bosco Fambul, which is one of the country’s leading child-welfare organizations and located in Freetown. The organization has been on the forefront of efforts to help save young women who have faced abuse and prostitution and to rehabilitate street children and reunite them with their families.
Over the last four years, Don Bosco Fambul has provided assistance for nearly 11,000 children and youth suffering violations of their fundamental rights. Through education, Salesians and a large multidisciplinary team of social workers transform the lives of youth to allow them to take control of their own lives. Don Bosco Fambul also offers a 525 Childline toll-free number, available throughout the country, 24 hours a day/7 days a week for youth who suffer any type of violence.
In the last 25 years, Don Bosco Fambul has also earned recognition for having been at people’s side during the civil war and the Ebola epidemic. In addition, Salesians are on the front lines of helping residents during the floods and landslides that the capital suffers every year.
Salesian missionaries have been serving in Sierra Leone since 2001 when they began working to rehabilitate former child soldiers through the organization Don Bosco Fambul. Young people in the country face significant challenges in accessing education. With too few teachers and many school buildings destroyed in the war, resources are thin. Persistently high illiteracy rates mean that an estimated 70% of Sierra Leone’s youth are unemployed or underemployed.
###
Sources:
Photo courtesy of Don Bosco Child Protection Newsletter
Don Bosco Child Protection Newsletter Embrace Jan-March 2024, Page 21
Salesian Missions – Sierra Leone
UNICEF – Sierra Leone