Dr. Sandra Lako, the current Country Director for Sierra Leone, has spent almost her entire life immersed in both service and medicine. When she was only two years old, her family came to serve on board the M/V Anastasis. Surrounded by a diverse community, united in a shared mission, young Sandra Lako was inspired to study medicine in The Netherlands. She was determined to one day return to Africa.
Since 2005, Dr. Lako has worked in Sierra Leone as both an active medical doctor and a public health professional, partnering with in-country stakeholders to strengthen the country’s clinical and public health systems. She established an outpatient paediatric clinic two decades ago, where children continue to receive free quality medical care, and has worked for a British charity at the government-run Ola During Children’s Hospital to support policy development, emergency care processes, and capacity building of national staff. During the Ebola outbreak in 2014-15, Dr. Lako led the charity’s team to support an additional two hospitals in Freetown as part of a national initiative to establish infection prevention control structures in all government hospitals.
In 2019, Dr. Lako received an esteemed award as “Commander of the Order of the Rokel” from His Excellency President Julius Maada Bio in recognition of her years of service in Sierra Leone—especially during the Ebola outbreak.
Having completed her master’s degree in public & international health in 2020, Dr. Sandra remains committed to supporting the Sierra Leonean government, health partners, and healthcare workers in a joint mission to address clinical and public health issues, particularly with regards to the provision of quality healthcare services, including safe surgical care.
In 2022, Dr. Lako rejoined Mercy Ships as Sierra Leone’s Country Director, providing oversight for Mercy Ships’ work with the partner country, including direct specialist surgical services on board the Global Mercy, as well as education and training programs both on and off the ship to strengthen local surgical care systems. Her vast experience in Sierra Leone and long history with Mercy Ships, bolstered by strong relationships built over the years, make her a uniquely capable fit for this role. For Dr. Sandra Lako, medicine is more than a career—it’s a calling to offer hope, joy and compassion to those who need it most.