Chris first traveled to Tanzania in 2003 on a month-long global health elective during his family medicine residency training at the University of Cincinnati. Field experiences in Honduras with his mentor Jeff Heck, M.D., founder of Shoulder to Shoulder, Inc., had sharpened Chris’s global health knowledge, and he was eager to apply those lessons in Tanzania. Chris worked at a local hospital in the rural village of Shirati in the Rorya District. He came to Shirati ready to save the world, but it didn’t take long for Chris to notice a major challenge – a distinct lack of accessible healthcare and other resources for the surrounding villages. The only time these villagers could see a doctor was if they were able to make the arduous daylong walk to Shirati Hospital.

A pregnant mother who would’ve been one of Chris’s first patients died making this trip to the hospital while she was in labor. He never got the chance to help her. This shaped a new perspective for Chris; we can’t go to these areas with the intention of saving the world.

“In reality, on any given trip to Tanzania, our U.S. volunteers are impacted more than any tangible benefit they leave behind. But by working together in partnership with the people we serve, we’re able to build sustainable, real-world solutions that make a difference – while learning important lessons of love, humanity, and community from our African colleagues that we bring back and share with our own friends and neighbors.”

– Dr. Christopher Lewis

When he finished his month in Tanzania, Chris made it a goal to someday return, planting the seeds of what would become Village Life Outreach Project