Bujumbura, Burundi. (September 21, 2024): Americans have a special place in their hearts for the tiny country of Burundi, the poorest nation on earth according to the World Bank. In this photo by 1st Lieutenant Katherine Sibilla, Army Lieutenant Colonel Sarah Rabie, an obstetrician, lends a Burundian obstetrician a hand performing a cesarean section during a medical readiness exercise. The Army program brings U.S. and African partners together to exchange medical practices and procedures under sometimes primitive conditions. These collaborations establish long-term relationships between the participants and improves their ability to cooperate in an emergency.

The U.S. Army’s Southern European Task Force, Africa conducts these medical readiness clinics across Africa every year. U.S. Army medical units’ partner with host nation military medical providers to establish outreach clinics across Africa. This is the second of eight exercises scheduled for the African continent this year.

During the three-week exercise, twenty person teams of U.S. Army medical personnel collaborated with local doctors on a wide range of medical services, from general surgery to obstetrics. Teams of doctors, nurses, medics, and equipment specialists drawn from units across the United States offered a wide range of expertise including anesthesiology, gynecology, and emergency room procedures.

Although Burundi suffers significant poverty, they can always rely on the American people to lend a helping hand.