Adelia is only 3 years old, but she has already seen more doctors  than most people see in a lifetime. Born with a defect known as a cystic hygroma on her neck, Adelia’s mother had spent her daughter’s earliest years in and out of five different hospitals and clinics in Kenya desperate to find doctors to remove the benign lump, which can cause airway obstruction if left untreated. At each stop, she was either told they could not do the surgery or, if surgery was offered, she realized she could not afford it. 

That was until she met doctors from Operation International. 

Adelia and her mother traveled  a seven hour drive in May from Nairobi to Vihiga County Hospital in Kakemega, Kenya to see one of Operation International’s newest volunteer mission teams, Team SEE Kenya. The journey was the answer to Adelia’s mother’s search in more ways than one: the OI team, which focuses on education and training for local health care staff, could not only perform the surgery for free, but do so while equipping  their Kenyan colleagues with the skills to take on cases like Adelia’s in the future. 

“The local ENT surgeons we worked with stated that they too would have referred her to a different facility if she came to their hospital, as they do not regularly treat such complex pediatric cases,” said Team SEE Kenya Leader Cheryl Carandang Nocon, MD. “It was the perfect case for our training mission because it allowed us to provide safe, hands-on surgical training for the local ENTs, as well as training for the local anesthetists in handling difficult pediatric airways.”

Adelia’s successful surgery was just one of 42 cases Team SEE (Surgical Education and Empowerment) Kenya completed with local staff during their inaugural six-day mission trip. The focus of their mission, the team also provided 480 training and educational hours.

The lectures, interactive didactic sessions, and hands-on surgical and anesthesia training during cases are all part of Team SEE Kenya’s mission to enhance the education and training of health care professionals in perioperative management of surgical disorders. Working in close collaboration with a group of local surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, and operating room technicians, the team engaged in a mutual exchange of knowledge, skills and experiences, all with the goal of supporting local staff to independently provide safe, sustainable and high-quality care to their community.

The knowledge exchange was well-appreciated by staff, Dr. Carandang Nocon said.  

“In particular, we received very positive feedback from the nursing and operating room staff who participated in the didactic sessions and then were able to immediately put their knowledge to clinical practice throughout the week,” she said.

Team SEE Kenya, founded by Dr. Carandang Nocon in 2025,  is one of two education-focused teams that have recently joined Operation International. Team SEE Kenya and the  Critical Care & Health Security Initiative teams expand on Operation International’s longstanding mission to improve the knowledge, capacity, and infrastructure of local health care systems during their volunteer missions, ensuring their impact lasts long after mission teams pack up and leave. 

For Team SEE Kenya, this mission is targeted specifically in Kakamega, the hometown of OI Kenya Coordinator Ian Otinga, RN. With Ian’s assistance, the team will focus on fostering long-term partnerships with local staff as well as the hospital and government officials who support their administrative and financial growth.

Plus, as with all OI teams, Team SEE Kenya will support the community outside the hospital during their trips. During their inaugural mission, the team donated five computers to a local elementary school and a commercial printer to a local high school. One team member also individually raised money to donate a laptop to the high school. 

For patients like Adelia, these behind-the-scenes logistics are both central to and at the same time a mere sidebar to the immediate relief of Team SEE Kenya’s 2026 visit. Adelia’s mother was “extremely appreciative and happy” with the results of her daughter’s long-fought surgery and even messaged the team three weeks later to let them know her daughter is doing well.

“Follow-up reports like this motivate us to continue participating in these missions,” Dr. Carandang Nocon said. 

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