I'm from a province of like six million people, but only maybe two or three
surgeons and all those surgeons are in just one town.
The estimate is that there are 56 million people in Africa today who need an
operation that have no access to the care that could provide that operation.
Countries that don't have even basic surgical services have just devastating
health problems and so surgeons are necessary and and good surgery is
necessary. The surgical training program that we offer is a five-year
residency training program based on the same model as we use in the United
States. PAX stands for the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons and it is
a program that developed and started at Bangal Hospital and now it is spread to
many countries. We have annual examinations, there is a supervision in
the operating room that is very closely monitored. We have residents who are
coming from many countries to train. We have built right into our curriculum a
spiritual program over the course of five years. It includes Bible study. It's one
of the best training programs now in Africa is recognized and seen as that by
the African Surgical Societies. I like how PAX is educating doctors here in
Africa. They provide everything we need for a very good education. Personally I
came here with almost no knowledge and I've acquired a lot more skills than
just a few skills I had. In me I was having the desire of you know becoming a
surgeon one day but I never knew how it will be possible. I finished my high
school in a war situation. Congo was in a war, we were like fighting every day.
I did instead of six or seven years I did ten years because of that
instability. There was no way to achieve what you are thinking to do one day in
life. God helped me to connect with PAX to achieve my dream. My plan is to go
back to Republic Democratic of Congo to help those poor people who can't afford
anything who are dying because of lack of skills. PAX is a right calling and the
right providence of God to a continent which is torn and which is underserved.
These are future leaders they're not just surgical residents they're going back
to places in which there are virtually no surgical faculty. They will be the ones
that change the medical landscape of their countries and because of that they'll
have tremendous influence as believers and Christians. In discipleship PAX as
as made us think more like Christ. We pray for those that are totally down
hopeless. Patients that have terminal illness and patients that have financial
constraints as well.
Doing the work I'm doing here in the hospital is so important for me because
we are doing it to glorify God to glorify Jesus. We want people to see
Jesus through us. To me PAX is a gracious and God-given gift to the continent of
Africa. My hope is that our residents would live the gospel and change the
health of the whole continent of Africa. This is a way to change medicine a way
to change Africa the way to change people. I am completely in.
