YUCATAN, MEXICO 2010
It was our pleasure to work again with Dr. Al Zamacona and his wife Laura. This was our 10th year working with Dr. Al and his team. Once again we found it to be both adventurous and rewarding. We stayed in the City of Playa Del Carmen and traveled to our clinic sites. We saw approximately 500 patients during the four clinic days we held. On our second day of clinic we had the opportunity to see the members of the hotel staff, where we were staying. This was the first time we had tried something like this and weren’t sure how it would turn out. God really used it for good. We found it very rewarding to serve the staff members that worked 6 to 7 days a week , waiting on so many others .
On all of our clinic days we provided medical, dental and vision care. With the help of local church members, we also provided free haircuts. They worked very hard and it was great to see the smile they put on everyone they served. Our last clinic day was planned to be held at a local park. The lack of electrical power and other services made this real problem. We were able to move to a church a block away that had everything we needed. After talking to the people in charge we learned the real reason we were planned to be in the park. The clinic was a joint venture with 4 churches of different denominations and they did not want to hold the clinic where one church would get more credit than another. It was a great testimony for us to inform them that our team from Project Compassion was made up of people from many churches and denominations. At the end of the clinic day we prayed with all the pastors and thanked God for the work he had done helping the people of this area and uniting the churches in a greater way than they had ever been.
UGANDA, AFRICA 2009
The first two days of clinic were in Ssennyi, the fishing village where Project Compassion worked two years ago. It is right on the shores of Lake Victoria. The fisherman daily bring in hundreds of pounds of Nile perch, which are shipped around the world by a Korean company. The village has otherwise been very isolated with no medical care available. The people have been deeply involved in witchcraft and even cannibalism in the recent past. Two years ago, the people were reluctant to come to the clinic, but this year, there were many people waiting in line when we arrived. A little girl was seen for a severe rash and we noticed that she was wearing a beaded "necklace" around her wrist that is given to the people by the local healers. We talked with the mom about the power of God versus the power of the beads to heal her little girl and encouraged mom to remove the beads. She said, "Can I take it off right now?" We said, "of course", and so the mom immediately took the "necklace" off the baby.
Our team quickly "jelled" and began treating patients as if we had always worked together. Medical conditions included a toddler with severe kwashiorkor (protein malnutrition), a 3 week old with pneumonia who was transported (via motorcycle to be hospitalized in a town about one hour away) many patients with ulcers (due to chewing on coffee beans), many patients who believed they had syphilis because every rash, itch, bump, or symptom was diagnosed by the local healer as syphilis, and, of course, the usual malaria, pneumonia, scabies, tinea, worms, tuberculosis and HIV. We were blessed this year to have rapid HIV test kits, which were so helpful when we suspected the diagnosis, but the patient had not previously been tested.
The next two days were spent at Bombo another small village where we had served two years ago. We were a little surprised by the number of patients on the first day, until we learned that the community leader may have invited his special supporters and friends to the first day, while the remainder of the community was invited to the second day of clinic. You can imagine the crowds that awaited us on that second day when we saw over 400 needy patients! That was, of course, the day that patients needed IV hydration, antibiotic injections for chronically draining otitis, and wound care - keeping the nurses in the treatment station very busy. How about continuity of care? Dr. Jane Anderson saw a 2 year old boy for pneumonia and realized she had seen this little boy when he was just a 3 day old. His grandmother had brought him to our clinic two years ago because he had a very large congenital nevus on his back and this year, here he is again!
The highlight of the final day for a few team members was the delivery of a healthy term baby girl in the room next to our pharmacy. One of our team members is a labor and delivery room nurse who will have stories to tell her colleagues of the unbelievable conditions under which this miracle of birth took place.
Mexico 2009
San Cristobal, Mexico
The team returned from Southern MX; weary but blessed. We had some difficulty when we landed in Mexico City with customs; almost did not get all the suitcases of meds & supplies on the plane for the flight to San Cristibal. After a long discussion that seemed to just go around in circles; the customs agents became very friendly and helpful. (God is always at work) We arrived safely and the rest of the trip went rather smoothly.
We stayed in the town of San Cristibal and drove each day to a different village to set up the clinic. The villages were Oxchuc, Chenalo, Chanal, and Yashtinin. Each day between 150-200 people were treated. At the first three clinics the host Church was able to show the Jesus Film in the people’s native dialect. In Yashtinin the Church was not allow to show the Film because of strife within the goverment; although they were able to talk about Jesus. In Oxchuc most of the people professed to be Christian. At the last three villages between 8 to 10 people each day prayed with PC team members to receive Jesus as their savior. Many seeds were also planted because of the Jesus Film; the people really watch intensely. Each team member also had an impact on people as they served and loved them. The local Pastors made good contacts; and doors were open to them in each of the villages because of the clinics. In Chenalo an Atheistic government official was so pleased with the clinic that she ask the Pastor if he would be able to teach classes to the community that would help prevent rape, and drug & alcohol addiction. What a blessing it was to serve the people of Southern MX.
Please continue to pray for Project Compassion and join us on a trip sometime.
Mozambique 2008
Project Compassion visits developing nations on an invitation-basis, responding to requests from individuals that directly work with the country's natives. Through a strong network of dedicated individuals, we are able to bring our proven and invaluable service directly to the point of need. Most often the clinic site is in a very rural and remote location where medical care is limited or inaccessible.
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