A first encounter with Orsi Academy
Dr. Kibabu, currently affiliated with the University of Kikwit and continuing his scientific and academic collaboration with the University of Lubumbashi, first discovered Orsi Academy and Friends of Orsi through Professor Alexandre Mottrie, while accompanying a patient who was due to undergo surgery at AZORG Hospital in Aalst.
During that visit, he completed a foundational training in robotic surgery. Friends of Orsi provided financial support for his accommodation, meals and transport, allowing him to focus fully on learning.
From training to a broader vision
What began as a first step into robotic surgery soon opened the door to a much larger ambition.
This experience allowed me to acquire fundamental skills in robotic surgery and opened the way to an academic project including a master’s degree, a doctoral thesis and a programme to introduce robotic surgery in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in partnership with Orsi Academy and its collaborators.
For Dr. Kibabu, this opportunity became part of a long-term vision: turning new knowledge into education and research, while helping create broader access to robotic surgery in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Why access matters
For Dr. Kibabu, the value of surgical training is reflected not only in new skills, but also in better outcomes for patients and surgeons.
Access to this type of training is essential, because it helps significantly reduce surgery-related mortality, improve the quality of care and patient well-being, while preserving the health and professional longevity of surgeons.
In regions where specialised training remains limited, every opportunity to learn can create lasting progress for hospitals, healthcare systems and the people they serve.
Building stronger healthcare systems
That potential grows when individual learning becomes shared progress. When knowledge is further shared across teams, institutions and borders, it can raise standards of care and help healthcare systems evolve.
Friends of Orsi goes beyond scholarships and grants. Through OCERT, a knowledge-sharing think tank, and educational initiatives such as Junior Orsi, it fosters collaboration, strengthens expertise and supports the next generation of medical talent.
Each initiative contributes at a different stage. Scholarships open doors for promising healthcare professionals. OCERT brings experts from science, industry and policy together to advance safer robotic surgery. Junior Orsi connectes students with healthcare innovation, technology and entrepreneurship.
”Funding training and projects in robotic surgery is today a major lever to modernise healthcare systems and sustainably improve surgical outcomes.
Help create the next story
Friends of Orsi relies entirely on the generosity of donors, sponsors and grant proviers. Without their support, many of these opportunities would not exist.
Your support can help remove barriers, unlock talent and bring knowledge to hospitals and communities where it can make a lasting difference.
When you support Friends of Orsi, you invest in more than training. You invest in better healthcare. Safer surgery. And opportunities that can improve lives for generations to come
Friends of Orsi is administered by the King Baudouin Foundation, offering donors a trusted framework for giving and supporting these initiatives over the long term.
Support Friends of Orsi and help make the next story possible.
