Tanzania Ifunda
The Children's Surgery Foundation brings surgical aid to where it is urgently needed – giving children the chance for health and a future through necessary operations.
Since 2018, the Foundation for Pediatric Surgery has been involved in the Ifunda mission station in the district of Iringa, the provincial capital of Tanzania. The station has been a proven location for humanitarian missions by Kinderhilfe Tansania for many years. It is led by Monika and Horst Blaser, who, with their organization (www.klumpfuss-feuerkinder.de) and together with a dedicated local team, have built up the medical infrastructure with great commitment, including setting up two separate operating theaters.
In 2022, Prof. Martin Lacher from the Foundation for Pediatric Surgery, and in February 2026, Dr. Robin Wachowiak, together with the team from the children's aid organization "Ärzte für Kinder in Not e. V." (Doctors for Children in Need), treated children with congenital and acquired deformities. While part of the team prepares the operating theaters, the other helpers examine the numerous waiting patients.
Many families travel from afar, sometimes up to 600 kilometers, often exhausted and with emaciated children – their greatest wish is a chance for medical treatment. During their stay, they sleep on makeshift beds in the old church.
During the initial examination, each child receives a wristband with a serial number, name, parents' mobile phone number, and the planned operation day to ensure a smooth workflow.
Families travel hundreds of miles to ensure their children receive the best medical care.
During these missions, children are treated for a wide range of surgical conditions: from inguinal and umbilical hernias to small and medium soft tissue tumors, and severe scar contractures after burns. The aim is to sustainably improve the health and quality of life of the children.
Local nursing staff are continuously involved in the operating theaters and during dressing changes to ensure reliable follow-up care. As an international aid organization, we work closely with local doctors to strengthen medical care and enable a better future for the children in the long term.
The gratitude of the families is overwhelming and always unique on our missions – we often receive small gifts, from single eggs to food items such as fish or chickens.
However, the greatest thanks for us are the visible treatment successes: children who previously could barely move their arm due to large scars leave the ward with fully functional arms – they can catch a ball again and simply be children.
Even small gestures, such as the foundation's support with travel costs for the return journey, mean a lot to the families; often, it's only a few euros.
Such moments show how valuable the work of our foundation on-site is – and that every donation directly contributes to enabling a better future for children.