In April 2012, Virtue Foundation volunteer surgeons and doctors provide patient consultations and reconstructive surgeries in Tumu, Ghana.

Virtue Foundation Director of Global Health and International Programming, Dr. Ebby Elahi, returned to Tumu, one of the most remote and neglected regions of Ghana, to provide diagnostic workup and reconstructive surgery to the population. Dr. Elahi screened over 100 patients per day and treated dozens of patients with various ocular ailments.

One particularly moving case was a 6 year-old boy, Latif, who was severely burned and scarred after walking into the flames of an open cooking fire at only 8 months old. The burns he suffered on his face caused his eyelids to fuse apart, and his scarred appearance kept him from socializing and attending school. Dr. Elahi performed reconstruction of his eyelids and release of the contracture on his arm. It was the first time that the young boy received medical care for his injuries.

In addition to providing essential care, Virtue Foundation Vice President and Co-founder Dr. Joan LaRovere continued to train medical professionals and monitor the implementation of the Non-Invasive Ventilation project that is saving countless lives in the region.