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Kijabe, Kenya April 8, 2022 – CURE International, a Christian charitable organization that operates children’s hospitals in Africa and the Philippines, and an Alaskan spine surgeon staged the groundbreaking for a housing complex in Kijabe, Kenya in late March that will enable local surgeons to complete fellowship training in spine surgery.
The building project was sponsored by the Carolyn Jane Foundation which is propelled by Dr. Craig Humphreys. The foundation is named after Dr. Humphreys mother, Carolyn Jane Humphreys who was a teacher in Alaska schools and served the underprivileged in Alaska. The first of three buildings will be completed in early 2023. The training facility is designed to bring current spine surgery capabilities to benefit spine patients in Kenya.
Over the past 9 years, medical mission trips by Dr. Humphreys and the Carolyn Jane surgical team performed over 100 surgeries at AIC CURE international hospital in Kijabe. CURE and Carolyn Jane Foundation acquired land for the complex in 2019.
The building project is capitalized by contributions from the Carolyn Jane Foundation and Spineart of Geneva, Switzerland which manufactures spine surgery implants. Additional support is provided by donations of medical equipment and spine surgery instrumentation by Medtronic and Stryker, two other companies in the spine surgery industry. The spine facility building will be constructed on land that sits at 7,200 feet altitude and looks out over the Rift Valley, says Dr. Humphreys.
“Housing is an important first step on our journey to establish an accredited, two-year spine fellowship program serving East Africa,” says Dr. Humphreys. “From our first visit in 2013, we have learned and grown alongside Dr. Theuri and the amazing staff at CURE. Many people have worked tirelessly to make this project a reality.”
“This project aligns specialized surgical training, skilled local providers, acute need, and the generosity of our community members who support Carolyn Jane Foundation,” notes George Putnam, a Director at the Carolyn Jane Foundation.
About CURE International: CURE International is a Christian non-profit organization that operates a global network of eight children’s hospitals providing world class surgical care and intentional spiritual care to children living with treatable disabilities.
About The Carolyn Jane Foundation: The mission of the Carolyn Jane Foundation is to bring orthopaedic spine care to rural areas of need through advanced training of local providers, aided by the development and deployment of market-appropriate logistical and surgical systems. More information is at CarolynJane.org.
About Spineart: Spineart is a privately held medical device company focused on simplifying surgery by designing, developing, and promoting safe and efficient solutions to spine surgeons, operating room teams and patients.
As an elementary school teacher in Anchorage, Carolyn Jane Humphreys witnessed many young people caught in tenuous situations beyond their control. She realized that school was often the only stable and safe space for children. She developed federally-funded learning programs to reach remote Alaskan village populations, and broke down cultural and literacy barriers ever present in the forgotten corners of Anchorage. Helping people for the sake of helping was ingrained in Carolyn Jane and her family without an expectation of a “thank you.”
Throughout Dr. Humphreys’ career, he has looked for ways to give back to patients and the communities in which he has served. Over the years, Dr. Humphreys has also found great personal satisfaction providing free spine care, knowledge, and expertise to patients suffering from back and neck pain in countries like India, Lucia, Lithuania, and China. In 2010, he return to Alaska where he grew up as a fellowship-trained spine surgeon. He desired to finish his medical career providing the best quality spine care to Alaskans.
In 2014, Dr. Humphreys identified a Kenyan hospital — CURE Kenya — which provided the surgical operating rooms and necessary surgical instrumentation to enable the Dr. Craig Humphreys team to perform complex spine surgery for underserved patients in Kijabe, Kenya, East Africa. This included complex scoliosis correction that would not otherwise be available in Kenya.
We are pleased to provide here images of Dr. Humphreys and the KenaiSpine clinical team on their 2018 Mission Trip to Kenya. This year — through the donation of medical products and equipment from multiple companies — the KenaiSpine team and CURE Kijabi hospital was able to forever change the lives of 13 patients from all over Africa. Many of these individuals — ages 13 to 63 — were immobile, in great pain, with no hope. The clinical team helped to give these people back their lives.
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S. Craig Humphreys, MD
Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon
Fellowship-Trained Spine Surgeon