DonateNo one should live years with pain that has a cure.
In the Amazon, a hernia or a gallstone hurts for years, waiting for a hospital that is hours away by boat. We take the operating room there.
Next expedition: 28 Nov to 6 Dec 2026, Belterra, Pará
Adriel was number 1,685 in the queue. In Belterra, he got out of it.
Adriel could no longer play, the pain was that bad. He needed his gallbladder removed, but he was number 1,685 on the public health system's waiting list.
His mother, Nikita, saw on television that Zoé was at the Belterra hospital and went there with no guarantee at all. Paediatrician Dr Maria Zilda referred the case, the team stepped in, and Adriel was operated on during that expedition.
Stories like this are the rule on every expedition. For these people, surgery is not a procedure. It is going back to playing, to working, to sleeping, to living without waiting.
From your donation to the operating room, in four steps
Since 2020 we have brought a full team and every supply needed to operate in municipal hospitals and indigenous territories across the Amazon.
Come back always, to the same place, until the queue no longer exists.
- You donate.Your contribution pays for transport, supplies, medicines, tests and lodging for the volunteers.
- The queue is organised.With the municipal health department and the local hospital, patients are screened and examined weeks in advance.
- The team arrives and operates.For 7 to 8 days, several rooms and specialties, from dawn until the end of the day.
- You get the result.An impact report after every expedition, plus live coverage on @ongzoe.oficial.
- Where
- Belterra, Pará, on the Lower Tapajós, and remote indigenous territories
- When
- Two expeditions a year, June and December, 8 to 9 days each
- Who
- Volunteer surgeons, anaesthetists, radiologists and nurses
- What
- Hernia, gallbladder, gynaecology, thyroid and skin, with ultrasound and consultations
- Medical leadership
- Dr Marcelo Averbach, Dr Pedro Averbach and Dr Pedro Popoutchi
What we operate on — and why it changes a life
General surgery: hernia and gallbladder
Years of pain from carrying weight. One afternoon to solve it.
Understand the surgery
For people who live off farming and fishing and carry weight all day, a hernia grows, hurts and can strangulate — an emergency hours from the hospital by boat. Gallstones cause bouts of severe pain and serious infections. These are the most frequent surgeries in the program: 310 since 2020, with discharge in one or two days.
Gynaecological surgery
Bleeding, pain and shame that no one should carry in silence.
Understand the surgery
Fibroids, cysts and prolapses affect women for years with no gynaecologist nearby: anaemia, constant pain, difficulty working and caring for their children. We operate with an all-female team whenever possible, with a consultation and ultrasound beforehand.
Head and neck surgery: thyroid
A lump in the neck that grows for ten years until it presses on the throat.
Understand the surgery
Nodules that grow unmonitored press on the windpipe, make swallowing and breathing hard, and can hide a cancer. The surgery needs a specialised surgeon, safe anaesthesia and ultrasound — resources that do not exist hours up the river. We bring the whole team.
Skin surgery
Under the Amazon sun, an ignored spot can be skin cancer.
Understand the surgery
Decades of sun on the river and in the fields, never once seeing a dermatologist. Suspicious lesions, early skin cancers and cysts are removed the same day, as outpatient procedures: 295 surgeries since 2020.
Every case goes through screening and a pre-operative assessment weeks before the expedition.
What Zoé has already done
Years of pain end with one donation
Monthly by card, no lock-in. One-time by Pix, card or bank slip.
Become a Guardian of the Tapajós Surgical Program
Zoé only goes back because there are people sustaining the program every month.
Guardians get the report from every expedition first and are invited to our events.
Accounts audited by BDO · Doar A+ Seal for Management and Transparency · Impact report by e-mail after every expedition · CNPJ 43.982.556/0001-33
For companies
Sponsor one surgical front or the whole expedition, with an impact report of your own and presence at our events.
Andreia Laplana, executive director: andreia@ongzoe.org
Why trust us
- BDO audit 2024 and 2025
- Doar A+ Seal for Management and Transparency
- Humanizar Saúde Award — Teva Brasil 2024
- Veja Saúde Award 2025
- ORG Impact Awards 2024
- Top-Ranked Organization GlobalGiving 2025
144 partner institutions, among them Faculdade Sírio-Libanês, HC-FMUSP, Fundação Salvador Arena and SESAI/DSEI.
Transparency (latest audited report) →
Frequently asked questions
What kind of surgery does the Tapajós Surgical Program do?
Elective small and medium-sized procedures that can be done safely in a municipal hospital and have a predictable recovery: general surgery (hernia and gallbladder), gynaecological, head and neck (thyroid) and skin surgery. Cases that need intensive care or high complexity are referred to the specialist network.
Who chooses the patients?
The queue is organised together with the municipal health department and the local hospital, from the demand already registered in the public health system. Zoé assesses every case before surgery.
And after the team leaves?
The immediate post-operative period is followed by the team on the ground; longer follow-up stays with the local network, with guidance from Zoé and a direct channel for questions. In Belterra, Zoé keeps a continuous presence through its other programs and the branch opened at the Municipal Hospital in 2026.
Does my donation go only to surgeries?
It goes to the Tapajós Surgical Program: everything that makes each surgical expedition possible — logistics, supplies, medicines, tests, lodging for the team and infrastructure. The volunteers are paid nothing. Zoé's accounts are audited by BDO and published.
What do I get as a Guardian?
Guardians get the report from every expedition before anyone else, join an online conversation with the surgical team once every six months and are the first to know the dates. And they can cancel whenever they want, with no lock-in.
Can I donate to a specific expedition?
Yes. Until 6 December 2026, everything that comes in through this page goes to the 55th expedition, in Belterra, as part of the “Last Gift of the Year” campaign. Whatever exceeds its cost stays in the Tapajós Surgical Program and secures the June expedition.