Global Health Progress

Dr. Glenn Geelhoed, professor of surgery, international medical education, and microbiology and tropical medicine at the George Washington University, has circumnavigated the world 42 times in his 40-plus years of medical mission work. Below, he recounts his first of nine 2008 missions. Currently, he’s preparing for a December 27th departure beginning his fourth circumnavigation of 2008 with this year‘s fourth return to South Sudan. Dr. Geelhoed is also an avid runner. He has completed 112 marathons to date, most recently the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon.

Week One: The inaugural week of the year passed in geopolitical uncertainty. Our team was caught up in the riots in Nairobi as we landed in a capitol ablaze. We quickly hustled the team of Africa novices onto the AIM Air Caravan a few moments before Wilson Air Field was shut down.
We flew into Duk Payuel’s airstrip in Sudan’s Jonglei Province to a royal New Year’s Day reception. We inaugurated the new Duk Lost Boys Clinic, setting to work immediately, seeing over 100 patients a day and giving intensive tutorials to the indigenous staff and our team of beginner global health students.

Week Two: Conducted a second week of clinics as newly resettled refugees were returning to the village from which they were driven more than a generation ago in the 18-year civil war in South Sudan. By the time of our chartered flight back into Nairobi, I had time to play Naturalist Guide in escorting the team on a brief tour of Nairobi National Park before hosting a farewell dinner in a favorite Italian restaurant in Nairobi. Then we were whisked away for our international return flights.

Week Three: I lost a birthday. It dropped cleanly off my calendar into the Pacific Dateline flying westward on this, the first of several ’Round the Globe missions this year. I arrived, at least a year younger, in Kalibo, Caticlan, Panay right in the middle of a festival celebrating the marginalized indigenous Ahti tribe of the northern Philippine islands we had come to treat. The next weekend – after completing many surgical cases – I hopped on an outrigger to visit Boracay, the “world’s most beautiful tropical beach island.”

Week Four: I operated on scores of interesting patients and ran before dawn through villages of the indigenous Ahti peoples, returning to Boracay before transfer through Kalibo and Manila to General Santos City, Mindanao. Arrived among the T’boli peoples of South Cotabato. At TECH (T’boli Evangelical Clinic and Hospital), Dr. Bing said that our annual visit is the highlight of every year for them, and I find that it may be true on both sides of this exchange. Once again, we helped scores of fascinating patients with advanced disease surgically – including an impressive pseudomyxomatous peritonei patient with a ruptured ovarian adenocarcinoma – and multiple dozens of goiter thyroidectomies.

The customary “love fest” program that concluded our intensive week was complete with the traditional T’boli dances accompanied by their unique musical instruments and costumes, layered in belts of bells. We left early to fly to Manila to have a farewell dinner at the “Mall of Asia,” where we watched fireworks burst over Corregidor in Manila Bay.

Week Five: In transit from Manila to Hong Kong, the Chad mission was scrubbed due to the rebel takeover of the capitol N‘Djamena where I had been scheduled to land a day after it blew up. I “stood by” in the new Hong Kong Airport to talk my way on to an Ethiopian Air transit through Bangkok to Addis Ababa.

Week Six: Worked with Rick Hodes in Mother Teresa’s clinic of young orphaned patients with desperate cases in salvage chemotherapy. I then went south to the Lake Langano mission station. Attended clinic on the lakeshore of the northernmost Rift Valley lakes (where hippos and fish eagles were spotted, and Colobus monkeys aimed at me from acacia treetops), and treated spectacular cases, including Anthrax!

Week Seven: Departed Lake Langano for Soddo in Wolaitta Province, Ethiopia. Operated again in Soddo Christian Hospital, including the improbable diagnosis by sonography and repair of an abdominal aortic aneurysm – a first for Ethiopia. Departed Soddo with newborn orphan twins for adoption delivery to Addis, we drove up through Chisimani as I arranged a flight with Rick Hodes’ sons to Lalibella. I toured the mountaintop millennium-old rock-hewn churches of King Lalibella’s reign and returned to Addis for a final set of Mother Teresa Clinic rounds.

Week Eight: Departed Addis via Rome, and touched down in Washington, D.C, en route to Gainesville, Florida, for the “Five Points of Life” marathon run with my son, Donald.