High school junior outlines July surgical mission to Tanzania, asks district to allow fundraiser posters

A junior at the high school, Younger Dissa, presented a plan to the Southampton Union Free School District Board of Education on the district’s work‑session agenda, describing an upcoming surgical mission to western Tanzania and asking for local help raising funds.

Dissa said the mission, organized through the nonprofit Operation International, will take place in mid‑ to late July. “We’re going to be leaving on July 16,” Dissa said, and described a 13‑day trip that the student later summarized as returning July 27. He said the team would include about four surgeons (two general and two head and neck surgeons, including his father, Les Lagoviso), anesthesiologists, scrub techs and nurses and estimated the volunteer contingent at “between 10 and 30 people.”

The student said the trip aims to provide surgical care and to train local medical staff: “Primary goal of this organization is also to train the doctors at these specific locations…to provide adequate medical care.” He described the host community as a rural area served by a single hospital that “does not have the proper training” and said local health‑ministry staff would assist the team.

Dissa also reported his fundraising efforts. He said he created a GoFundMe in March, has raised about $2,500 so far and set a $5,000 goal to cover supplies and transportation. A board member later noted the GoFundMe page showed $2,600 of $3,500; the transcript contains both figures and the amounts are not reconciled in the record.

When asked how donated funds and supplies would move to Tanzania, Dissa said his family would cash out collected funds and transfer them to Operation International; he said some supplies had already been purchased by participating surgeons and the organization would arrange transport. On whether the team would set up at an existing hospital or a temporary clinic, Dissa said they planned to use the existing local hospital where possible and “make use of what we have” once on site. He declined to give a precise estimate of how many patients would be seen.

Dissa asked the board’s permission to post fundraiser posters around district buildings. Board members and staff praised his initiative and offered support — including suggestions to share the fundraiser via the district’s ParentSquare communications tool — but the transcript does not record a formal board vote granting permission to post materials.

The board’s public commentary rules were recited on the agenda before action items; the session moved on after the student presentation without a formal motion related to the fundraiser. Dissa said he plans to use the experience to pursue medicine in college and thanked the board for its time.

The meeting record shows supportive comments from board members and district staff; no formal district commitments or approvals for the fundraiser are recorded in the transcript.