Dr. Francis Yamikani Donda
General Surgery Resident
Malamulo Adventist Hospital
Malawi
Healing Hearts, Restoring Hope: Dr. Donda’s Calling to Bring Surgery Home
Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons resident Dr. Francis Yamikani Donda still remembers the night he had to tell his father that his brother would not survive.
It was during the COVID-19 pandemic. His uncle was being treated at a district hospital with only two oxygen cylinders and a few concentrators. By then, Dr. Donda had been practicing medicine for two years. He understood the seriousness of his uncle's condition and the painful reality that the resources and related specialists needed to save him were not available.
For him, the limitations of healthcare in Malawi were never abstract. He grew up in Dedza, near a major road connecting much of the country. His father worked as a clinical officer and often returned home with stories of patients who had suffered devastating road accidents. The district hospital could stabilize some patients, but many required advanced equipment and specialized surgical care that was available only in Lilongwe. They had to endure a difficult journey to the referral hospital. Tragically, not everyone arrived alive.
Those experiences strengthened Dr. Donda’s desire to become a surgeon who could relieve suffering and bring hope to people who might otherwise have nowhere to turn.
Today, he is a second-year PAACS general surgery resident at Malamulo Adventist Hospital in Malawi. He first encountered PAACS-trained surgeons while working with cardiac surgery teams from Tenwek Hospital and Loma Linda University during Heart Camps in Malawi. Their clinical excellence impressed him, but their humility and compassion captured his heart. They prayed with patients, cared for their spiritual lives, and demonstrated that excellent surgical care and faithful Christian witness could coexist.
Through PAACS, Dr. Donda is learning to care for the whole person. That became especially meaningful when a family arrived with their five-year-old daughter. A severe infection had spread through her right leg following an injury. The family had traveled four hours from their village and had already spent most of their money seeking treatment.
The child needed multiple operations, coordinated care from surgeons and other medical specialists, and an extended hospital stay. Food became scarce, bills continued to rise, and the family feared they might lose their daughter.
But they prayed.
Hospital support programs provided the family with a high-protein diet and helped cover part of the medical bill. The family recognized this unexpected assistance as an answer to prayer.
“They understood that God had used us as vessels of blessing and healing for their child,” Dr. Donda says. “They came afraid of losing her, but they left encouraged in their faith and thankful to God.”
Before procedures and daily rounds, Dr. Donda and his colleagues ask for the Holy Spirit’s guidance. In high-stress moments, he returns to the words, “Be still, and know that I am God.” Medicine can treat, he says, but God ultimately heals.
Dr. Donda dreams of a future in which Malawians no longer wait years or die waiting for lifesaving surgery abroad. He hopes to see more surgeons and related specialists trained to provide advanced care locally, including cardiac surgery. His desire is to care for ailing hearts, both physically and spiritually.
To everyone who prays for and supports PAACS, Dr. Donda offers heartfelt gratitude.
Though supporters may never physically meet these patients, God uses their generosity to extend His healing and hope through Dr. Donda and others like him—for His glory.
