Our partner teams are small. That's because the work is done by over 300 staff members in DRC.
Goma Staff
Janvier BAKUNGU
Sophonie KASIKI
Dr. Medard KAKULE KABUYAYA
Patrice MULAMBA
Patrice graduated from ULPGL University (Université Libre des Pays des Grands Lacs) in 2004 with a degree in Organizational Management and Administration. He began work at HEAL Africa in 2006 as an accountant in the hospital pharmacy before joining the Hospital Administration as a Deputy Administrator in August 2008. By September 2008, he was promoted to Head Administrator for the hospital under Lyn Lusi. He held this post until 2012 when he returned to university for his Master’s Degree in Health System Management at Mzumbe University in Morogoro, Tanzania. Upon completion of his program, he returned to HEAL Africa as Chief of Operations until early 2020, when he became Chief Financial Officer. Beyond his work at HEAL Africa, he enjoys spending time together with his two children and wife, Giselle. From playing basketball to attending church every Sunday, he leads a life of faith, inspired by his deep love for God.
Justin PALUKU, MD
Dr. Justin Paluku is the Assistant Legal Representative (Deputy President) of HEAL Africa/DRC. He is also a qualified Obstetrician and Gynecologist. As the very first resident doctor with HEAL Africa’s (formely DOCS) Family Medicine residency program in the year 2000, he has spent a significant amount of time mentoring many of the resident doctors who have later joined the residency program. After his Masters Degree in Family Medicine at the University of Limpopo (South Africa) in a distance learning program, he briefly served as the Medical Director of the HEAL Africa Hospital, when DOCS split up into DOCS and HEAL Africa in 2005. In an effort to fill a need for a trained and qualified Ob/Gyn specialist to deal with the challenges of rape and vesico/recto-vaginal fistulae in the eastern part of the DRCongo, the HEAL Africa/DRC Board invested in Dr. Justin to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Makerere University. In February 2011, the HEAL Africa DRC Board nominated him to be the Assistant Legal Representative of the organization.
Dr. Eulalie VINDU
General Assembly
Ann Clemmer
Marc Erickson, MD
Marc is a general surgeon living in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He and his wife Judy have three children. Marc lived in Somalia for two years as a child with his parents who were missionaries. Marc became involved with the work in Goma in 1998, he has traveled there at least once per year since that time to teach and perform surgery. Marc serve as a member of the HEAL Africa DRC General Assembly, and currently serves as Chair of the HEAL Africa USA board.
David KASALI, Ph.D.
Caleb King, M.D.
Dr. Jo LUSI, MD
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.
Samuel Ngayihembako
Rev Francis Omondi
Dr. Justin PALUKU, MD
Dr. Justin Paluku is the Assistant Legal Representative (Deputy President) of HEAL Africa/DRC. He is also a qualified Obstetrician and Gynecologist. As the very first resident doctor with HEAL Africa’s (formely DOCS) Family Medicine residency program in the year 2000, he has spent a significant amount of time mentoring many of the resident doctors who have later joined the residency program. After his Masters Degree in Family Medicine at the University of Limpopo (South Africa) in a distance learning program, he briefly served as the Medical Director of the HEAL Africa Hospital, when DOCS split up into DOCS and HEAL Africa in 2005. In an effort to fill a need for a trained and qualified Ob/Gyn specialist to deal with the challenges of rape and vesico/recto-vaginal fistulae in the eastern part of the DRCongo, the HEAL Africa/DRC Board invested in Dr. Justin to specialize in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Makerere University. In February 2011, the HEAL Africa DRC Board nominated him to be the Assistant Legal Representative of the organisation.
Heal Africa Australia Alliance
Rochelle Nyatoro
Richard Jones
Lindsay Thitchener
Neil Wetzig
USA Board
William Conner, DDS
Bill has been practicing dentistry for 43 years but describes himself as a follower of Jesus Christ masquerading as a dentist. He is married to Renee and they have 5 children and 13 grandchildren. He came to know HEAL Africa through Dr Marc Erickson on a volunteer mission trip. He donated supplies to on prior mission trips, before going on his first trip to Goma, where he fell in love with the people and staff at HEAL Africa.
“I’m excited each year to see what God has prepared for us and look forward to meaningfully touch the lives of many.”
Marc H. Erickson, M.D.
Marc is a general surgeon living in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin. He and his wife Judy have three children. Marc lived in Somalia for two years as a child with his parents who were missionaries. Marc became involved with the work in Goma in 1998, he has traveled there at least once per year since that time to teach and perform surgery. Marc serve as a member of the HEAL Africa DRC General Assembly, and currently serves as Chair of the HEAL Africa USA board.
Marc T. Erickson, M.D.
Marc T Erickson, MD is a retired Emergency Medicine MD; a retired senior pastor of Eastbrook Church in Milwaukee, WI; a consultant for HOME (Health outreach to the Middle East), married father of 5 married children and Grandfather to 22 Grandchildren.
Edwin Fischer, MD
After finishing his residency in family medicine, Ed purchased a clinical practice from a retiring clinician in Lake Mills, Wisconsin. Operating solo from 1981, Ed continued working in family medicine, while managing the business side of his private practice. In the mid 1990s, he sold his practice to Fort Atkinson Memorial Hospital. Shortly after, he was asked to sit on the board of directors and stepped up to the role of president in the hospital owned physician group in 1999. A decade later, Ed’s role expanded to include medical director of the whole Fort Akinson health care system. This required reducing his clinical practice to half time and expanding his administrative duties to half time.
His duties as president of Fort medical group included chairing board meetings, recruitment of physicians, leading compensation committees, negotiating contracts, physician management, overseeing clinic management, spearheading a committee tasked with selecting and implementing an EMR for the entire health care system, troubleshooting problems of a wide scope and variety, and helping to chart a course for our physician group and healthcare system that would meet the continuing new challenges healthcare faced. His duties as medical director included taking part in many assorted committee and department meetings dealing with healthcare quality, provision, and administration within the hospital as well as within the outpatient clinics.
In May of 2014, Ed suffered a thrombotic CVA, ending his career. Although the stroke resulted in dysarthria and right side paralysis of his leg and arm, his cognition was never affected. Over the last couple of years he has been recovering, able to walk independently without assistive devices, and gained use of his right arm and hand for gross motor skills.
Over the last 12 years, Ed has been involved with HEAL Africa, since its beginning 2005. He has traveled to Goma nine times, sharing his knowledge and experience with the HEAL Africa residents and doctors, as well as conducting lectures/teaching on medical topics of the doctors’ choosing.
Today Ed’s mind continues to be sharp and is looking for opportunities to be of service toward others.
Catherine Peterson, J.D
Catherine Peterson joined HEAL Africa’s USA Board in September 2018. She is an attorney licensed in Colorado and California and is presently residing in Denver, Colorado.
Catherine is a 2012 graduate from the University of Denver Sturm College of Law, where she was an active member in the school’s public interest community. While in law school, Catherine also earned her Master of Social Work, with a clinical focus in child welfare and interpersonal trauma.
From 2013 to 2016, Catherine served as a court-appointed attorney with the Colorado State Public Defender’s Office, where she gained extensive trial experience and fought to protect the constitutional rights of the indigent. In 2016, she joined a boutique law firm in Centennial, Colorado, where she continued to develop her litigation practice in the areas of civil rights and employment law.
Catherine is a strong advocate for human rights and social justice, and has a particular interest in issues of gender-based violence and human trafficking. She has volunteered with a number of public interest organizations, including the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center and the Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network (RMIAN) in Denver, Colorado and more recently, the Legal Resources Center in Cape Town, South Africa.
Catherine is a native of France and is fluent in both French and Spanish. She is an avid runner and hiker, and in her free time enjoys exploring Colorado and the Rocky Mountains.
USA Staff
