The Matolase Mtonga Scholarship for Women in Reconstructive Surgery is an annual scholarship established in honor of Dr. Matolase Mtonga, one of the few women surgeons in Zambia, who tragically passed away in 2021. She was one of the first surgeons in the Pioneering Women in Reconstructive Surgery (PWRS) program developed in 2017 with our partner, SkinCeuticals. This program was designed to support women through surgical training, leadership development, mentorship, and networking opportunities. In Dr. Mtonga’s honor, we hope to sustainably build surgical capacity in regions with low access but high capability by supporting first-generation women reconstructive surgeons.
Approximately 30% of the global burden of disease is from surgical conditions, many traumatic and preventable, but there is an estimated shortfall of more than 5 million reconstructive plastic surgeons annually. Further, while women comprise more than 50% of the population, they represent only 7% of the surgical workforce. This scholarship aims to combat this and support and empower women to gain the needed expertise in reconstructive surgery to deliver quality care in their underserved communities.
This year, we have our largest cohort yet, fourteen scholarship recipients from low and middle-income countries around the world. With the generous support of SkinCeuticals, we are excited to support their journeys and welcome them to the Resurge community.
Congratulations to our newest cohort of Matolase Mtonga Scholarship winners!
Dr. Sanderene Abdelnor, Egypt
Driven by her passion for equitable healthcare, Dr. Abdelnor is a plastic surgeon from Egypt with over eight years of clinical experience and a Master’s degree. Growing up in Egypt, she has devoted her professional life to serving her community. She is motivated by the socioeconomic constraints she witnesses daily in her patients’ lives and how this affects their ability to access timely and necessary care. Her work specializes in pediatric auricular reconstruction, congenital hand anomalies, post-trauma, and burn care. She is deeply committed to advocating for the underserved populations she serves. She aims to utilize the Matolase Mtonga scholarship for her training so she can expand access to care for vulnerable populations and empower other women in global surgery.
Dr. Ebere Osinachi Ugwu, Nigeria
Dr. Ugwu is a freshly minted plastic and reconstructive surgeon. She was recently appointed as a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Nigeria following residency training in Ibadan, Nigeria. Her interests center on oncoplastic reconstruction, particularly breast reconstruction. She has co-authored various publications, most recently “Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction Awareness and Attitudes in Nigerian Women with Breast Cancer”. Her experiences being a woman in a male-dominated field and navigating how stigma and barriers to care affect her patients’ willingness for reconstruction, especially breast reconstruction, have spurred her interests in reconstructive breast surgery. She aims to utilize this scholarship to complete a breast surgery fellowship in Brussels and acquire essential surgical equipment to treat patients in Nigeria.
Dr. Suzanne Nyakirugumi, Kenya
Dr Nyakirugumi is a Kenyan doctor currently completing her training in plastic and reconstructive surgery in Tanzania. Her exposure to preventable traumatic injuries in her community motivated her to move across borders with her family to pursue plastic and reconstructive surgery. Namely, she witnessed the raw desperation of a 6-year-old boy who severed his right hand in a farming accident with his grandfather. They “brought the hand hoping for restoration”, but unfortunately this could not even be attempted due to the absence of plastic and hand surgeons in the region. These farming Chaff cutter injuries are tragically common in her region in Kenya, robbing “youth in their prime”. Dr. Nyakirugumi aims to complete her training in Tanzania and “restore hope and dignity” to her community by practicing hand and post-burn reconstructive care. Thus, reducing the social and physical toll of the “pain, scars, deformities, and social stigma” these patients face due to limited access to care.
Dr. Marioly Flores Rivas, Bolivia
Dr. Rivas is a maxillofacial surgeon in Bolivia who is carving out her niche in multidisciplinary care for oncology patients while completing a social service year at the Oncology Institute of Eastern Bolivia in Santa Cruz. She is passionate about reconstructive surgery because it provides compassionate solutions to vulnerable patients. She is further motivated by the barriers that exist for women in surgery, propelling her to pave an easier path for other women through perseverance and ethical leadership. She hopes to “demonstrate through ethics, perseverance, and hard work that we [women] have a rightful place in this demanding and passionate field”. Through collaborative approaches to medicine, she aims to provide holistic patient-centered care to the communities she serves. Her commitment to medicine, as she says, is “grounded in dedication, solidarity, and a desire to transform realities”. With this scholarship, she will have greater opportunities to hone her skills and serve her community.
Dr. Mahider Mazengia Demessie, Ethiopia
Dr. Demessie is a fourth-year plastic and reconstructive surgery resident training at Addis Ababa University. She follows in the footsteps of previous Resurge scholars hailing from the ALERT training hospital in Addis Ababa – ReSurge’s Partner Hospital and latest hub site in Ethiopia. From a young age, her passion for art and precision were apparent and subsequently nurtured by her parents. Her mediums of sketching, crochet, and writing helped hone her dexterity and “surgical vision”. She aspires to utilize her talents to “become a surgeon with a beautiful mind, skilled hands, and a compassionate soul”, and sees this scholarship as a step towards serving her community with both technical expertise and humanity.
Dr. Lenah Kerubo, Kenya
Dr. Kerubo is a third-year plastic surgery resident in Kenya. Growing up in a rural area in Western Kenya, Nyakeore, her community heavily practiced female genital mutilation (FGM), to the point that being “both a girl and uncircumcised made one an outcast”. While significant work has been done to educate and curtail FGM practices, as of 2020 about 1 in 4 cases of FGM were done by health workers per WHO. It is still a common practice in about 30 countries, but dedicated commitment to its eradication has been helping, with reductions ranging from 30-50% in Burkina Faso, Sierra Leone, and Ethiopia.
Communities preventing this practice will also be instrumental in its eradication. Dr. Kerubo’s mother did just that and courageously refused to allow her six daughters to experience the lifelong trauma and consequences from FGM that she endured. Instead, she worked to ensure they were educated and could make a better life for themselves. Witnessing the effects of financial difficulties on access to care and acute and long-term physical and emotional consequences of burn injuries and FGM, Dr. Kerubo was driven to the field of plastic surgery. She aims to utilize this scholarship to expand reconstructive pathways for patients suffering in silence and with limited knowledge of the options available to them.
Dr. Diana Musie Kiflom, Ethiopia
Dr. Kiflom is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery trainee in the FCS COSECSA Program, born and raised in Ethiopia. She knew she wanted to pursue medicine from a young age after witnessing the debilitating struggles of her community members suffering from burn injuries, congenital anomalies, and late-diagnosed tumors without adequate healthcare. One patient experienced an intentional acid attack and traveled 700km to receive care. It was through the transformative power of reconstructive surgery that she regained her ability to smile, emboldening her for a future she was previously fearful of. For Dr. Kiflom, this reaffirmed that “reconstructive surgery is not a luxury but a necessity…restoring one’s sense of self-worth and hope”. She hopes to carry this spirit of compassion and capability to all her future patients.
Dr. Decontee Wonokay, Liberia
Dr. Wonokay, born and raised in Liberia, is currently in Plastic Surgery residency training in Rwanda. She aims to be one of the first certified plastic surgeons in her country, and seeks to alleviate the impact of congenital deformities, burns, and trauma-related injuries. With immense determination, she has overcome various challenges to achieve her goals of becoming a plastic surgeon and seeks to “establish sustainable reconstructive surgical services, train future generations of surgeons, and advocate for better surgical infrastructure and education”.
For me, reconstructive surgery is not only about repairing bodies, it is about restoring dignity, hope, and the ability to dream again. It is about giving a child the chance to smile confidently, a burn survivor the ability to use their hands, a mother the strength to hold her child again.
Even through hardship, she considers her ability to acquire specialized training a unique privilege that comes with a responsibility to the most vulnerable. Dr. Wonokay mirrors the resilience of her country and hopes to shape its healthcare system to meet the needs of its people.
Dr. Ezati Ayikoru Daphine, Uganda
Dr. Daphine is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery resident in Kampala, Uganda at the Kiruddu National Referral Hospital. She has had the opportunity to learn from various mentors in her home institution and pursue plastic surgery, with a special interest in breast reconstruction and microsurgery. She hopes to further this education through a cultural exchange fellowship program, which would expose her to hand surgery, which is not currently practiced at her program. She recognizes the far-reaching impact of collaboration and mentorship and seeks to utilize the breadth of her networks and new skills for the betterment of her community.
Dr. Ashika Bagur, India
Dr. Bagur is a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery resident in Bengaluru, India. Growing up, she spent her days accompanying her mom, a hospital receptionist, to work – making the hospital her home away from home. Due to the sacrifices and encouragement of her parents, she carries their legacy of service forward as a surgical resident. Through her passion for reconstructive surgery, she aims to “restore form, function, and dignity to make it a little easier for patients to wade back into the world”. Dr. Bagur is a testament to the generational and lasting impact of education, and her dedication to her craft is evident in her care for her patients and community.
Dr. Adina Bataju, Nepal
Dr. Bataju is in her final year of General Surgery residency in Nepal and wants to develop surgical outreach programs that provide reconstructive care. It was during her residency that she witnessed the transformative impact of plastic surgery in restoring meaningful function for a patient. Her patient was the sole breadwinner in the family, and while working, he mangled his hand in a grinder. Without access to a plastic surgeon, a simple revision amputation may have been his only option, significantly impacting his life and that of his family. However, after multiple operations, the plastic surgery team was able to salvage most of his hand, and he only required amputation of his small finger. This experience reinforced Dr. Bataju’s passion to provide tangible change to her patients and underserved communities who are often overlooked due to “social stigmas, religious beliefs, or financial constraints”. Dr. Bataju intends to provide both immediate and sustainable impact through instituting public health awareness programs and community health basic training sessions that focus on prevention and first aid skills. She aims to build a world where “healthcare is a right, not a privilege”.
Dr. Tinashe Matikti, Zimbabwe
Dr. Tinashe Matikiti is an FCS student at Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals in Harare, Zimbabwe. She grew up appreciating how crucial it is for one to feel comfortable in their skin. With a passion for surgery, she found a home and purpose in Reconstructive surgery. My educational journey has thus far been in Zimbabwe, and I have worked in the rural and central hospitals.
“Here, I attend to several patients with heartbreaking conditions that could be addressed earlier but are usually deferred for protracted periods due to the unavailability of resources, including the incredibly small number of reconstructive surgeons (currently, the ratio is 1 surgeon:3.4 million). This exposure ingrained the determination to decentralize reconstructive surgical services to the rural and provincial public hospitals. This scholarship certainly helps fund the foundation of my career and clinical service.” – Dr. Tinashe Matikiti
Dr. Taonga Kim, Zambia
Taonga Kim Mbewe is a trainee surgeon on track to become Zambia’s first female locally trained plastic and reconstructive surgeon. Her clinical and academic interests lie in craniofacial reconstruction and advanced microsurgery, with a particular focus on restoring both appearance and function in patients with congenital facial malformations and facial tumors. Her academic research aims to elevate the role of plastic and reconstructive surgery as a vital sub-discipline within Zambia’s healthcare system, whilst also addressing the current gaps in craniofacial malformations and specialized care. Through her work and passion for academics, Kim is committed to shaping a future where transformative surgery is accessible, recognized, and impactful to both patients and future generations of plastic and reconstructive surgeons.
We are excited for these scholars to join the community of Matolase Scholars and honor the legacy of Matolase Mtonga. We look forward to the transformative impact they will have worldwide. To learn more about our Matolase Scholars in past years, read more (here, here, and here).
