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.
Goma Staff, Democratic Republic of 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, and HEAL Africa in the US, 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.
Lyn Lusi
Co-Founder and Program Consultant
Lyn was born and educated in England, and went to Congo in 1971 as a teacher with the Baptist Missionary Society. She married Dr. Jo Lusi in 1974. After their marriage, she worked in school and hospital administration in northeastern Congo (Nyankunde) for 19 years.
In 1993, she joined MAP International in Nairobi as Resource Development officer. Part of her work involved developing curricula for HIV/AIDS awareness which is now being used in a number of countries. The war prevented her from joining Jo in Congo in 1996; instead, Lyn set up the Community Based Rehabilitation program for CBM in Rwanda, and worked on her Master’s Degree in Human Resource Development and Training. In 1999, she joined DOCS HEAL Africa in Goma as Program Manager and has expanded the Learning Center Hospital’s programs to include Family Planning, Safe Motherhood, Women Against Violence, AIDS Education and Homecare, and Community Rehabilitation. She brings formidable administrative skills, talent for developing people and programs and a strong commitment to Congo.
Dr. Jean-Robert Likofata, MD, MPH.
Program Manager
Dr. Likofata was epidemiologist and responsible for emergencies in Equator Province with WHO prior to joining HEAL Africa staff two years ago. He brings extensive experience of managing hospitals in various areas of DR Congo, and experience in HIV prevention.
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 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, where he mentors younger doctors.
United States Staff
Judith A. Anderson
Executive Director, HEAL Africa USA
Judy Ericson Anderson grew up in Congo, and has studied, worked and lived in North America, Europe and Africa over the past 40 years. Her work experience includes small business, international joint governmental and non-governmental programs, and being a wife and mother. For twelve years prior to becoming Executive Director of HEAL Africa US, she worked as a consultant with community transformation programs in Africa, the Caribbean, and Central Asia. “I know that the key to change is the people involved. I have seen HEAL Africa grow and am excited about the impact it is having in North Kivu and Maniema, and about the resource this training center can provide to Congo and Central Africa.”
Board Members (United States)
Theodore Ruel, MD is a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the University of California, San Francisco. He first travelled to Goma in 2002 when he met Lyn and Jo Lusi soon after the eruption of Mt. Nyiragongo, leaving the city in ruins. Impressed by their devotion and accomplishments, he supported in the creation and growth Heal Africa. He has been serving on the board of Heal Africa USA since 2007.
Jacqueline Monash has a long experience in human rights and advocacy, establishment of institutions (LA Children’s Museum, LA Cinematheque, etc), investment, publicity and marketing, 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, a former student, accomplishing 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 encourage her former students in their continued commitment to health care and training of professionals.
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 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.
