Medicine is how we first meet people.
Africa Cries Out began with a clinic under a tent and is building toward a hospital that never closes — treating patients each March, keeping two clinics open between missions, building a hospital on the outskirts of Dakar, and raising up the medical people who make all of it possible.
From one week of care to care that stays.
Each March, volunteer clinicians treat thousands of patients in villages across Senegal. But a mission week ends and illness does not, so the same work runs in four directions at once: the care given each March, the clinics that stay open in between, a hospital rising on the outskirts of Dakar, and the people being trained to carry all of it. Four pages, one effort.
Four pages, four parts of one thing.
Annual Medical & Surgical Care
Village outreach clinics staffed by volunteer physicians across many specialties, donated medication distributed to the patients who need it, and surgery performed with local hospital teams — care that continues after the team flies home.
- Consultations across internal medicine, pediatrics, OB/GYN, ophthalmology, dentistry and more
- Donated medication from AmeriCares and Direct Relief, grown from $600K in 2022 to $1.4M in 2026
- A surgical pathway that runs from screening months ahead to follow-up by the local team
The Clinics We Support
Two clinics keep working when the March team has flown home. Our partner MEADBS runs them — one open all year beside its base outside Dakar, one being developed in Kédougou from the clinic that already serves the leprosy village there. ACO equips both and supplies their medicine.
- Base clinic near Dakar — 6,000+ patients and 300+ births a year
- Kédougou: a leprosy-village clinic becoming a community clinic
- Year-round basic care, and a local base for visiting medical teams
Dr. Idrissa Faye Memorial Hospital
A permanent place for care on the outskirts of Dakar, on land already purchased at Mbourokh Toucouleur — named for the Senegalese doctor who turned down the private hospitals to serve the poor and died on the road to the leprosy village. Built in phases the community can begin today.
- Phase 1 — ground, perimeter wall, and a deep well with water tower
- Phase 2 — a comprehensive outpatient centre
- Phase 3 — a development hospital, and beyond
Medical Education & Training
Students from age 10 travel with the medical team and hold real posts beside physicians — check-in, vital signs, triage, the pharmacy table — trained by U.S. medical faculty before they go and mentored at every station while they serve.
- Taught by U.S. physicians before the trip and every day on the field
- Supervised clinical posts matched to age, training and demonstrated readiness
- A parent or guardian travels with each student and serves on the team
- Planned: training for Senegalese physicians, nurses and other healthcare professionals