Pediatric Surgical Outreach

Dr. Alliance, a partner with Surgery Helps, is a Pediatric Surgeon working in Burundi, East Africa.

He is one of two pediatric surgeons serving in the country of 13 million. We are honored to join with him as he seeks to alleviate the pediatric surgical need.

Having received medical care when their own child was just months old, Alliance and his wife Cynthia are committed to improving access to pediatric surgical care in difficult-to-reach locations. It is this commitment to helping others that motivated them to leave their family in the capital city and bring their young children to rural Kibuye Hope Hospital. Since joining with us in July, he has seen more then 120 patients in clinic and performed paediatric surgery over 210 times.

Since most patients can hardly afford transportation fees, let alone surgical costs, Surgery Helps is coming alongside to directly assist those without the resources for the surgery they need.

Recently, Dr. Alliance organized a team to travel to an even more remote location, where they saw around 60 pediatric patients, and completed 30 surgeries for families in desperate need.

Here, he shares about the outreach, and a story of one young patient:

“When our partner community health group ventured into three small villages in rural Muyinga, our team was initially worried that we might not have enough patients to justify the presence of a volunteer surgeon in Muyinga, North of Burundi. As it turns out, we were completely wrong—our triage doctor identified 60 patients in need of surgical assistance. This discovery was both exciting and challenging—there were so many patients in need of help, but we also faced the daunting task of reaching many more people in rural Burundi, where undiagnosed or untreated surgical conditions are likely more widespread than we could imagine.

One of the patients we encountered was Bonito. At five years old, Bonito appeared much younger, resembling a three-year-old from a distance. His mother had tried everything—seeking help from traditional healers, praying at the church, and visiting numerous health clinics and hospitals—but no one could find a solution for her son. Some nurses suggested she travel to the city, but she simply couldn’t afford the journey. In fact, no one was sure she could ever find a pediatric surgeon, as in Burundi there was not any until January 2024, when two of them returned after training.

His mother had been overjoyed when Bonito was born, but that joy quickly turned to concern as he couldn’t stop vomiting. She recalls, "Everything he put down his throat comes back up, up to now." She believes that only God brought our team to her village, restoring hope that a solution could be found for Bonito. She was even more thrilled to learn that she would finally see a surgeon in Muyinga, so close to her village—after being told to travel all the way to Bujumbura with little hope of finding a pediatric surgeon.

Our volunteer pediatric surgeon examined Bonito and found he had a blockage, likely in his esophagus or stomach. However, the district hospital lacked the necessary equipment to diagnose or treat the condition. As part of our follow-up care after outreaches, we arranged for Bonito to travel to a hospital with the diagnostic capabilities needed. Bonito was diagnosed with a blockage in his esophagus, called a stricture. He will undergo a series of dilations, which should resolve the issue.

We are thrilled that Bonito is one of the patients we were able to help—without our outreach, he likely would have never seen a surgeon. This is just one example of how your support allows us to bring life-changing care to those who need it most, especially children, the poorest amongst us, and rural communities.”

Dr. Alliance Niyukuri

Pediatric Surgeon

Burundi, East Africa