Here is a short introduction to some of the key personnel behind HEAL Africa: those who administer the hospital and organization locally in Goma, those who run the various programs sponsored by HEAL Africa, and the Board of Directors from the US-based fundraising organization (HEAL Africa USA). To read more about our staff, visit our Staff Spotlight page.
Staff of the Goma-based HEAL Africa non-governmental organization registered in DR Congo
Hon. Dr. Kasereka (“Jo”) Lusi, MD
Co-Founder and Legal Representative
Dr. Lusi has been an orthopedic surgeon in rural Congo for most of his adult life. He studied medicine at the University (formerly Louvanium) of Kinshasa, Congo, and did his orthopedics specialization in Belgium. After completing his studies, he returned to Nyankunde Mission Hospital, and worked there as an orthopedic surgeon for the next nineteen years.
In 1993 he joined MAP International in Nairobi as Regional Director of Health Development. He returned in 1994 to Goma, in Congo, and in 1996 began the work now registered in Congo as DOCS HEAL Africa, training young African doctors to carry on the work of mission hospitals in rural medicine. His vision and passion are inspiring the new generations of young medical professionals.
Dr. Lusi was a senator in the transitional government of Congo, but his first love is orthopedic outreach surgery for disabled children in remote corners of Congo.
Dr. Christopher Kimona, MD
Hospital Medical Director
Dr. Kimona is originally from Maniema province, and comes to Goma as a general surgeon. He was recently the Chief Surgeon and Medical Director of the General Hospital in Bukavu. He was previously on staff at several hospitals throughout eastern Congo. He has Diplomas from the University of Kisangani, the University of Burundi and the University of Bordeaux in France. He is a crucial addition to the HEAL Africa, Goma, medical team in handling the increasing number of general surgeries. Dr. Kimona has also spent a month at the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital, increasing his skill at fistula repair.
Dr. Justin Paluku Lussy, MD
Family Medicine, OB-Gyn, Assistant Legal Representative
Dr. Lussy recently completed his OB-GYN specialty at Makerere University of Uganda, and has returned to practice at HEAL Africa, Goma, where he mentors younger doctors.
Board of Directors, HEAL Africa™
Theodore Ruel, MD is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. He first traveled to Goma in 2002, soon after the eruption of Mt. Nyiragongo that left the city in ruins. There he met Lyn and Jo Lusi and, impressed by their devotion and accomplishments, supported the creation and growth of HEAL Africa. He has been serving on the board of HEAL Africa USA since 2007.
Jacqueline Monash brings a long list of experience in human rights and advocacy, establishment of institutions (LA Children’s Museum, LA Cinematheque, etc), investment, publicity and marketing to the HEAL Africa USA board, and is committed to supporting sustainable overseas development.
Judy Gay Kee was born and raised in New England, educated at Gordon College, Johns Hopkins University and Frontier Nursing University, Hyden KY. Ms Kee served as a career medical missionary to the Democratic Republic of Congo for two decades, training nurses at the ITM, Evangelical Medical Center, Nyankunde in the northeast Congo. It was there she met and worked with Dr. Jo and Lyn Lusi. At the completion of her assignment, Ms Kee turned over her teaching, leadership development and supervision responsibility to a qualified nurse and former student, having accomplished the goal of training qualified nursing personnel for the future. She has traveled extensively, promoting local national leadership in the medical field and in local church-based ministries. She has returned to northeast Congo to support her former students in their continued commitment to health care and training of professionals.
Dr. Sambe Duale is a public health physician with years of experience in design, management, and evaluation of health programs in Sub-Saharan Africa. He was born at the CEUM Karawa Hospital in the Equateur province of Congo. He came back in 1979 to his hospital of birth to start his career as a medical staff member. He subsequently served in Kinshasa as Director of the Basic Rural Health (SANRU) program of Congo (former Zaire) promoting a public health model of decentralized and integrated district health systems. Since 1993, Dr. Duale has served as a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Health Systems and Development of the Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and has consulted for regional and international health organizations, including faith-based organizations, the World Health Organization, the U.S. Agency for International Development, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the World Bank.
Morgan Hodgson, a practicing attorney, is a partner in Steptoe & Johnson LLP, a national law firm. Morgan practices in the firm’s Washington, DC headquarters, where she is a senior member of the Litigation Department and specializes in the areas of employment and employee benefits law. Her clients include a wide range of employers, including small and large tax-exempt organizations and Fortune 100 companies. Morgan has also served as Vice Chair of Steptoe and chairs its Technology Committee. She has long been active in providing pro bono legal services as part of Steptoe’s pro bono program. Morgan is married, with five adult children, and is an active parishioner at Christ Church Georgetown, where she chairs its Finance Committee and has served on its Strategic Planning Committee.
Tim Sneath is a senior director at Microsoft Corporation, where he runs a team responsible for technical outreach to developers who build apps for Windows. He brings the same passion for communication, business strategy and technology to HEAL Africa USA that he takes to work each day. Tim recently spent a month in Africa as part of a sabbatical, taking his wife and three young children to live in a remote village in central Tanzania to experience how life is lived by the other 99%. Tim attends Quest Church in Seattle, where he serves on the elder board, and lives in the beautiful surroundings of Issaquah, Washington.
Tambu Kisoki is a private consultant living in Sacramento, California. Tambu came to the United States from DR Congo in 1970 to pursue his education and has since led a successful career in economics, business and energy. For the past 20 years, Tambu served as the Director of Energy Technology Export, a public/private partnership program with the State of California Energy Commission which funds and promotes small to medium-size California firms exporting technologies and services to emerging markets. Prior to joining the California Energy Commission, Tambu worked in the banking industry for eight years. Tambu looks forward to improving the lives of others through his work with HEAL Africa USA.
Paulette Chaponniere combines her missionary parents’ passion for teaching with her passion for health in her position as an assistant professor at Grand Valley State University, teaching public health nurse educators. Paulette was born and raised in the Congo and remained committed to serving vulnerable populations throughout her career, which has included long-term assignments in Congo, Senergal and Niger and also over 50 short-term consultancies, mainly in francophone sub-Saharan African countries. Paulette challenges health professionals to use traditional teaching methods such as stories and songs when promoting healthy behaviors, and focuses on strengths rather than needs when developing community health programs. In addition to teaching at Grand Valley, Paulette’s research focuses on how the acculturation process affects health outcomes.
