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TUCSON - A team of UMC heart surgeons and nurses is showing just how big their hearts are with a volunteer mission to Ethiopia.

The team, led by pediatric heart surgeon Dr. Michael Teodori, leaves today for the capital, Addis Abada, for a two-week mission. They expect to perform cardiac surgery on 10-15 children, and to teach medical students there.

This is Dr. Teodori's fourth surgical mission to the east African nation, volunteering through the Gift of Life and Healing the Children organizations.

Joining Dr. Teidori are two pediatric ICU nurses from UMC, pediatric cardiologist Dr. Brent Barber, trauma surgeon Dr. Bellal Joseph, and Dr. Gohalem Felema, an Ethiopian native completing her anesthesia residency at the UA.

The team will be based in a small heart hospital in Addis Abada.

"It's not fancy, just concrete floors, but clean," Dr. Teodori says.