DR. LWABANYA ITABELO Marx, MEDICAL DIRECTOR. (MD, EMHL)

Dr. Marx was born at Deaconess Nundu Hospital only seven kilometers south of Nundu.  At the onset of war in 1996, at age 13, he and his family fled to Tanzania.  In the refugee camp he was able to complete high school.  Seeing his father’s work as a Community Health Worker in the camp and the medical need of so many people, he made the decision to study medicine.  In 2002 he left the refugee camp, returning to the DRC to study in the Universite Officiele de Bukavu.  He graduated in 2009 with a degree in general medicine.  He then gained medical experience at Deaconess Nundu Hospital before accepting a staff position with Hope Africa University, working in the Van Norman Clinic of Bujumbura.   

Wanting to expand his knowledge, Dr. Marx applied to the Executive Health Leadership Master’s Program (EMHL) of Brown University in 2015.   He received a scholarship and completed the Program in 2016 and was awarded the 2017 Master’s Award for Professional Excellence for his outstanding contribution to the advancement of maternal and neonatal care in developing countries.  His focus was the development of a neonatal center and nurse training program at the Van Norman Clinic. 

Dr. Marx was in line to be named Dean of the Frank Odgen School of Medicine.  However, in June 2018 he was called by Bishop Lubunga of the Free Methodist Church of the Congo to be Medical Director of Deaconess Nundu Hospital.  Marx has a vision for Deaconess Nundu Hospital to be a center of excellence, even in the face of endemic poverty and civil unrest.

Nancy, Christine, Dr. Marx, Elsie, and Joseph (born July 2022)

Dr. BYAMUNGU KAGENDEREZO Pahari, STAFF SURGEON (MD)

Dr. Byamungu is the first national surgeon to join the Deaconess Nundu Hospital staff.  He completed a four-year surgery residency at Kampala International University in November 2022.

 

 

 

                                           Dr. Pahari, with wife Francine and son Mike, Graduation November 2022

The son of a Free Methodist Pastor, Dr. Pahari is a member of the Free Methodist Church.  After completing secondary school at Nundu, he became active in teaching children the Good News.  In 2009 he joined Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF), with the mission of empowering churches to bring children into a relationship with Jesus.

In 2010 Pahari enrolled in the University of Bukavu Medical School, Democratic Republic of the Congo.  He had dropped out of school due to lack of finances, but after prayer and fasting, support started coming in.  After completing a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, he did a one-year internship at the Panzi Hospital in Bukavu.  He then volunteered at Deaconess Nundu Hospital for two years and served as a lecturer at the Nundu School of Nursing, before beginning his surgery residency in 2018.

Dr. Pahari feels called to provide surgical care to the underserved in the rural area around Nundu and beyond.  He is making an impact by taking on complicated surgical cases and describes his surgical training as preparing him for a wide variety of procedures.  He also enjoys teaching and mentoring students in keeping with the way he was encouraged in his professional and personal development. 

 

Dr. ASSUMANI M’MBONDO Christian, CHIEF OF STAFF (MD)

Dr. Christian MD has been serving DNH as chief of staff since January 2020. Dr. Christian joined the hospital staff in June 2018, from Centre Hospitalier Nakiele (another FMC healthcare facility in the mountain district) where he had been medical director since May 2017.  Before Nakiele, Dr. Christian served with Medicin San Frontier-Espagne in a medical and obstetrics emergencies project where he was involved in the coordination of the reproductive health for one year.  Dr. Christian also served with MSF-Hollande in Baraka, in another emergency project, from December 2014 until January 2016, where he was actively involved in the management pediatrics emergencies.

Dr. Christian completed a six-month internship at the government hospital in Baraka before joining the MSF staff.   He holds a bachelor’s degree of medicine from Universite Evangelique en Afrique, 2012 and Secondary School diploma from Institut Mgr. Byaene in Bukavu.

 

 

Dr. Christian, Chief of Staff

Hospital staff giving Saturday morning report.