The Rotary Club of Moose Jaw donated $10,000 to the Moose Jaw International Medical Mission on Dec. 2, an amount that will enable a team of doctors, nurses, and craftsmen to spend a week in Guatemala performing surgeries and installing stoves.
“This is a commitment that we made before COVID, and we’re honouring that commitment now,” said Rotarian Garth Palmer. “It’s a very worthy cause, and we’re very pleased to be able to help.”
The Moose Jaw International Medical Mission (MJIMM) is preparing for its sixth trip to Guatemala in February, 2023. Around 40 team members will pay their own way to fly into Guatemala City. From there, the team will head to a rural, poverty-stricken area to spend a week helping people who might otherwise never receive high-quality medical care.
“All of these funds will be going directly to paying for the surgeries that we do, paying for the clinics we do, buying the stoves that we install and the water filters,” said Dr. Mark Brown. “We all pay our own way to go down there.”
“We take vacation time and we pay for our own flights, we donate ourselves to the team,” said Maggie Metke, an operating room RN at the Dr. F.H. Wigmore Regional Hospital.
The Rotary Club of Moose Jaw also makes significant efforts to support rural education for Guatemalan children. Rotarian Glen Blager expressed his appreciation for the work that the MJIMM does and invited the team to make a presentation to the club upon their return.
Metke said the team started as a small surgical team in 2016. Metke said. “It evolved … to a surgical plus a medical team. And now we are a surgical, medical, and stove team.”
The surgical team specializes in general and gynecological surgeries. Gall bladder removals, hysterectomies, and hernia repairs are some of their most common procedures, and they will do dozens per day.
The medical team goes out into the communities for general medical care and education, and the stove team installs efficient, vented stoves and water filtration systems into the small stone shacks many people live in.
“The reason that the (stove team) came about is that the medical team saw lots of patients with chronic coughs and burns,” Metke explained. “Through a bit more investigation, they saw that patients were cooking over open fires in their homes … so, all that smoke billowing, you got small kids in there, and they aren’t big areas.”
Sometimes, the team is the first positive exposure to health care these communities have ever had, Metke said. Most of their patients are general labourers, for whom something like a hernia might prove complete disabling.
“We’re really, really thankful to Rotary … and to everybody who sponsors us and supports us whether its through donations, or helping us with equipment or medication, whether its financial, and even the smallest bit helps,” Brown said. “We’re so thankful for this big donation, it really is making the difference to us being able to go this year.”
Follow the Moose Jaw International Medical Mission on Facebook at facebook.com/mjmedicalmission to learn more about the team or to help with their fundraising efforts.
