Operation International may be nearing three decades of changing lives around the world, but that doesn’t mean the organization is done growing. As it approaches its 30th anniversary in 2026, Operation International has set up a 2025 full of trailblazing new teams, locations, and volunteers ready to expand its impact on those who need it most.

This year, the organization’s dedicated teams of medical professionals will bring their expertise on 20 missions across the globe. The missions include three brand new teams, two trips to a new country, and several missions in locations not visited recently by Operation International.

As always, 2025 will also include continued work at Operation International’s orphanages around the globe, where we provide for the basic needs of thousands of children. Upcoming work includes the completion of new dorms at OI Rakai Infant School and Orphanage in Uganda, which will be named for late board member Joseph Geoghan.

Here’s a look at what’s in store this year, starting with six missions in the first quarter of 2025:

Women’s Health Team

The Women's Health Team kicked off 2025 with Operation International’s first mission of the year in January. The team visited Ecuador, which the organization has not visited for a decade.

During a week in the country, the Women’s Health Team completed xx surgeries and worked on establishing a new site for Operation International. The Women's Health Team was established in 2023 by Dr. Vito Alamia Jr. Dr. Alamia has been a Team NY member for more than 20 years, and is a board member of Operation International.

Operation Restore Vision

In the hopes of setting up another new base for the organization, Team Operation Restore Vision (ORV) will lead the way as the first team from Operation International to travel to Kakamega in Western Kenya for a surgical mission in late January.

The team will provide desperately needed eye surgical care and to help establish Kakamega as a base for future Operation International humanitarian medical missions. Excitingly, this will be the first time any outside eye surgical team has come to this region of Kenya.

“The level of poverty is severe and the people have extremely limited options for advanced ophthalmic surgical care,” team leader Seth Meskin, MD, says. “Our team is honored and excited to work with colleagues at Kakamega County Hospital to provide free Vision Restoring Surgery to countless people who are blind as a result of cataracts.”

‍

Team MD

In February, the first of Operation International’s new teams will set off on their first mission with the organization.

Team Maryland, led by Dr. Vivek Sood,  will head to Sri Guru Ramdas charitable hospital in Amritsar, India. This will be only the second time Operation International has sent a team to India, the last being in 2009.

The team, which includes six physicians and assistants, will provide knee replacements for up to 30 patients in just three days. The majority of patients are laborers or household helpers who cannot afford surgery on their own, Dr. Sood notes. The knee replacement will allow each patient to improve their functional capacity and earn a living.

‍

Team Neuro

Another relatively new team, Team Neuro will embark on their second mission with Operation International in early March.

The team has been working since 2023 with partners at Holy Family Hospital to open the first neurosurgery center in the Techiman region of Ghana. On their 2025 mission, the team will continue building the program and provide much-needed operations for children and adults in need of neurosurgical care.

“Our goal over the course of the next few years is to build the hospital’s neurosurgery program with continued training of the local staff and the donation of equipment to the center,” team leader Sarah Jernigan, MD, said. “It is our hope that this center can become a neurosurgery referral center for the other hospitals located in the central portion of Ghana.”

‍

Team NY

Also in March 2025, Operation International’s longest standing team will be the first from the organization to travel to the country of Laos.

Team New York, which includes the organization’s founders, will provide maxillofacial, general, thoracic, and gynecological surgeries to underserved communities in the Southeastern Asian country. This marks the largest project ever undertaken by a foreign non-governmental organization in the region and includes a collaboration with Champasak Provincial Hospital.

‍

Team Cleft Repair

Team New York’s visit to Laos will be followed by Team Cleft Repair, who will expand their medical missions to the country for the first time as well.

The team will continue focusing on outreach to be able to help the most underserved areas, team leader Myhanh Nguyen. The team has completed two missions with Operation International in Vietnam, including in 2024 when they completed 39 surgeries in one week.

Team Cleft Repair  is made up of a dedicated group of doctors and nurses who are passionate about treating children born with cleft lip/palate.

‍

Future Missions

The excitement will continue in the later part of 2025.

One highlight will be the maiden mission for the second and third new teams, Team Heart of Texas and Team Canada.

A dedicated team of medical professionals from the “Heart” of Central Texas, Team Heart of Texas will provide Head and Neck and ENT surgical care in Rakai, Uganda. The team is led by Dr. Evan Longfield (ENT, Head and Neck surgeon), Kati Davenport (ENT nurse practitioner), and Dr. Ryan Raju (ENT, Head and Neck surgeon).

Team Canada will embark on their first mission in November to Ghana. Team Canada was formed in 2025 and is led by Caroline Gauthier, OBGYN MD and Kim Theoret Vlasak, RN MSc. The team's first focus will be on women's gynecologic surgeries.

Here’s a look at some of the other teams that will complete missions this year:

• Team Chicago
• Team DC
• Team UK
• Team Hearts
• Team Heart of Texas
• Team Florida
• Team Cleft Repair: Vietnam
• Team Michigan
• Team Canada
• Team Dental
• Team ENT
• Team Kids
• Team Manhattan
• Team Spain

‍