Belize Medical Mission, October 2025

Dear family, friends and supporters,

I write to inform you about the recently concluded medical/surgical/dental mission to the country of Belize, organized by the North American Taiwanese Medical Association (NATMA), October 25-November 2, 2025. This was the second back to back such mission by this group to Belize. As usual, I represented my nonprofit organization, Chima Medical Mission International (CMMI) as the CEO, and the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) as the President. Two other ANPA members, Dr. Osita Onyekwere and Dr. Ify Anidi (who brought her two daughters along), were also volunteers. So we Nigerian-American volunteers were well represented as a reciprocal act in appreciation for the NATMA volunteers who were involved with our ANPA medical mission week in Lagos Nigeria in April 2025.

The team of about 50 people from the diaspora was led by Dr. Charles Hsu, chair of NATMA medical mission committee. The event was held in partnership with the Belize government and three different hospitals and various communities across the country, with logistics support for the Taiwan Embassy there.
Below is the summary of the accomplishments of each part of the team along with some pictures.

The Primary care and Cardiology team led by Drs. Charles Hsu, Tony Lee, and Osita Onyekwere attended to a total of 2,024 patients (adults and children) in different regions of the country.
The GYN team led by Drs. Steve and Dianna Yu saw 138 patients, performed 25 colposcopes, 3 hysterectomy operations.
The Dental team led by Drs Esther Young performed procedures finished 221 procedures.

The Surgical team led by Drs. Dahlia Tawfik, Nina Bowman and Cliff Eke performed a total of 50 various operations in three different hospitals thus:
24 cases at Western Regional Hospital (WRH) in Belmopan, 16 at Karl Heusner Memorial Hospital (KHMH) in Belize City, and 10 cases at Northern Regional Hospital (NRH) in Orange Walk.

Special cases and moments included the Laparoscopic teaching and training of the local surgical team in WRH to build capacity. Our surgeons performed the first laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair with mesh there ( possibly in the country)!

At KHMH we taught local surgeons how to do sentinel lymph node biopsy using blue dye, followed by immediate mastectomy and axillary lymph node dissection for breast cancer.

We also performed a 6 hour case in a 54 year old male with abdominal pain and 30 pounds weight loss for over six months. Came to ED because of GI bleeding, fainted and hemoglobin was 5. After transfusion work up showed sigmoid colon cancer invading small bowel loops and abdominal wall. We resected the cancer en bloc with the involved sigmoid colon, small bowel and abdominal wall with clear margins and reconstruction. The specimen measured about 15×30 cm. The local surgical team was appreciative and said that they couldn’t have safely performed such major surgery with complete resection without our assistance. All patients did well without complications.

We met with the Dean of the newly formed Belize University Medical School, Dr. Johnson, and her team, talking about how we can assist the school that is currently in its second year, going forward.

After all the hard work we traveled to the Island of San Pedro for a day of cultural exchange at the beach, plus sightseeing, snorkeling, and fine dining.

Unfortunately, category 5 Hurricane Melissa hit Jamaica with devastating effects while we were still doing medical mission. ANPA is in touch with our members there and we are planning to raise funds, supplies (medical and non medical), and recruit volunteers (manpower) for an urgent outreach to Jamaica this month. We appreciate your prayers and support. Donations can be made on ANPA.org (specify Jamaica Hurricane Relief). You can contact me for further information.

Thank you for your support and thanks to God for journey mercies.

Remain blessed,
Dr. Cliff Eke, MD, FACS, FICS
President ANPA
CEO CMMI
November 5, 2025

www.chimamedicalmissions.com