By Emily Umble
Assistant Director of Programs

The Med-Surg program, operated by Brother’s Brother Foundation, assists medical providers as they travel around the world to help patients in underserved communities. Med-Surg aid is free to qualifying applicants and supplies medical groups with medicines and surgical instruments for hand-carry (on suitcases) from the US to the destination country. To date, BBF has supported over 4,000 Med-Surg trips and has reached over 100 countries.

Journey to Freedom, a Pennsylvania based nonprofit that addresses health system concerns globally, received their first BBF donation in June 2024. This donation consisted of 18 boxes of surgical instruments that were carefully selected and sorted in our BBF warehouse. Vickie Thornton, founder of Journey to Freedom, was led to Kenya in 2020 and began a partnership with IcFEM Dreamland Mission Hospital (DMH) in Kimilili. The hospital provides life-changing specialist services that may otherwise be inaccessible within the local community, including corrective surgeries, rehabilitation services, eye care, maternal healthcare, disability support Programmes, and community health education initiatives.

The feedback and expressions of gratitude BBF received from Vicki and DMH has been astounding. BBF’s instruments are making a tremendous impact in the main theatre and accident and emergency unit at DMH while equipping doctors with essential tools for surgeries and urgent care.  This past May, BBF had the honor of hosting Vickie, Solomon Nabie-Director of IcFEM Mission, and Ruth Nabie-CEO of DMH at our Pittsburgh facility. The focus of the meeting was on giving thanks and exploring ideas for continuing a partnership between BBF and Journey to Freedom, prioritizing the needs of DMH.

Following receiving BBF’s donations, Solomon Nabie wrote a heartfelt letter to BBF, explaining that the instruments had been most crucial for the newly constructed accident and emergency unit, being without the necessary equipment.

“In the past, procedures took longer, and patients had to endure extended waiting times. Now, because of the efficiency and modern capability of this equipment, we are able to significantly reduce operating time and serve more patients effectively. In a remote setting like ours in Western Kenya, such support goes a long way in saving lives and bringing hope to many vulnerable and underprivileged patients who depend on our facility for medical care.”

Photo Caption, from left to right: Vickie Thornton-Founder of Journey to Freedom, Solomon Nabie-Director of IcFEM Mission, Emily Umble-BBF Assistant Director of Programs, Ruth Nabie-CEO of Dreamland Mission Hospital, Sherrie Woodring-Founder of Root-to-Fruit