Dr. Teresa Nyamora
Neurosurgery Resident
AIC Kijabe Hospital
Kenya
Where Hope Had to Travel Too Far
Isaiah 58:8
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear.”
The mission of the Pan-African Academy of Christian Surgeons (PAACS) is lived out through residents like Dr. Teresa Nyamora—surgeons and related specialists being trained not only to operate skillfully, but to go where healing has historically not been available or arrived too late.
Dr. Nyamora grew up in a community where healthcare existed—but only barely. Can you imagine an entire region served by one hospital, with a doctor who visits only once a week, nurses left to carry the burden alone, no surgery available, and surgeons/specialists days away?
Care depended on timing, distance, and endurance.
When Dr. Nyamora was just five years old, her mother became gravely ill. Her thigh began to swell, and the pain grew relentless. The district hospital could not determine the cause, so she was referred to a hospital in another province. But when she arrived, the surgeon was not there; he came only once a week.
Dr. Nyamora’s mother waited. The swelling worsened. The pain never stopped.
Eventually, she was sent home—without answers.
The only remaining option was a hospital in another province many miles away. The cost of travel was impossible. Dr. Nyamora’s mother chose to endure her suffering at home. She passed away a week later.
That loss revealed the truth Dr. Nyamora would never forget, that people were dying not because treatment did not exist, but because surgeons and related specialists were not available or too far away.
Her mother’s death did not extinguish Dr. Nyamora’s calling as a doctor. It sealed it. From that moment, Dr. Nyamora resolved to become a surgeon who could reach those who suffer when care is far away, ensuring that no one else would face helplessness because help didn’t arrive on time.
After completing her medical internship, Dr. Nyamora joined the PAACS Neurosurgery Program at AIC Kijabe Hospital in Kenya. Through PAACS, she cared for patients who had traveled for days—or even weeks—from remote regions and neighboring countries. They often arrived after complications had already taken hold because no surgeon had been available closer to home. Mothers carried their sick children over vast distances, desperate for care that should have been accessible much sooner.
Repeatedly, Dr. Nyamora saw how early intervention could have changed everything—if only a surgeon/specialist had been available and closer.
Through PAACS, Dr. Nyamora found a place where surgical excellence and faith are inseparable. Here, surgeons and related specialists are formed in humility through prayer and Christ-centered mentorship. Dr. Nyamora learned to pray with families, to listen before speaking, and to trust the Holy Spirit in moments when words feel insufficient.
Dr. Nyamora shared the story of a mother who, after months of complications with her premature baby, looked at Dr. Nyamora with gratitude, seeing the grace of God at work through her hands.
That is why Dr. Nyamora presses on.
Her prayer is simple: to go wherever the need is greatest, to train others, and to bring both healing and hope to places that cannot wait.
To those who pray and give to PAACS—this is your impact.
You are helping to raise surgeons and related specialists who arrive on time, before hope runs out.
