Mission Trip - July 17-25, 2008
During the week of July 17-25th, a team representing St. Anthony’s visited our sister parish and held a medical clinic. The team included two doctors, two nurses, and five support people. They were able to provide medical care for nearly 1000 people. The patients were provided with needed medicine and vitamins.
Additionally on this trip, for the first time, we were able to provide dental care to the people of Gandou. Although we were unable to find a local dentist who could accompany the group, thanks to generous donations from St. Anthony parishioners, we were able to hire a Haitian dentist in Port-au-Prince who provided care the week we were there. We would like to thank Dr. Staggs from Greensburg who donated most of the equipment and supplies that the dentist needed. During our clinics, there are always patients who have serious conditions that cannot be treated by our group in our basic setting. On the last trip, several patients were identified and referred to the nearest city (a six hour walk) for further treatment. Funding was left with Fr. Guy to cover the expenses of this treatment. During our July trip we were happy to learn that four of the patients had received surgery to repair severe hernias (~US$200 each) and several other patients had received consultations to find out what the next step in their treatment needed to be.
There are still patients from the trip last January, and now new patients from the July trip who were referred for further treatment, but are waiting for funding. These patients have a variety of conditions. If anyone is interested in learning more about the individual patients, and possibly helping with this funding, please contact Joe at 623-2654.
Additionally on this trip, for the first time, we were able to provide dental care to the people of Gandou. Although we were unable to find a local dentist who could accompany the group, thanks to generous donations from St. Anthony parishioners, we were able to hire a Haitian dentist in Port-au-Prince who provided care the week we were there. We would like to thank Dr. Staggs from Greensburg who donated most of the equipment and supplies that the dentist needed. During our clinics, there are always patients who have serious conditions that cannot be treated by our group in our basic setting. On the last trip, several patients were identified and referred to the nearest city (a six hour walk) for further treatment. Funding was left with Fr. Guy to cover the expenses of this treatment. During our July trip we were happy to learn that four of the patients had received surgery to repair severe hernias (~US$200 each) and several other patients had received consultations to find out what the next step in their treatment needed to be.
There are still patients from the trip last January, and now new patients from the July trip who were referred for further treatment, but are waiting for funding. These patients have a variety of conditions. If anyone is interested in learning more about the individual patients, and possibly helping with this funding, please contact Joe at 623-2654.
July 2008 Mission Team