Day 4 Clinic

Distribution of food and supplies is a big part of the work that we do here. After passing through the medical and/or dental clinic, families are referred to our distribution station for food, clothing and shoes, and even toys.

It is hard to describe the difference in lifestyle here. Even the small towns feel densely populated and crowded, and dirty and simply lacking most everything.

Janice in distribution told us today that the most sought after item in distribution was not the brand new Crocs or the sandals that had been donated, it wasn’t even the toys or soccer balls for the kids, and it wasn’t even the food, although that was a close second. It was the large boxes the Crocs shoes came in! One lady vehemently asked for a box so she could have a mattress for her and her children. It would create a barrier between them and the dirt floor they normally slept on.

Pictured below is a family receiving some food, new shoes and hand made toys from Canada.

The medical team and pharmacy were moving swiftly and effectively again today seeing 643 people, and the dental team saw an incredible 101 patients today. The team worked right until dark again. Unfortunately, today was a day that for all of our efforts, there were still at least a couple of hundred people we were not able to see.

Pictured below is Michelle from the dental clinic before the day began. Below that is a shot of the whole medical team seeing patients.

One of the tougher cases that we heard today was about a 9 year old boy with Cerebral Palsy. Christine was able to diagnose him and speak with his mother about his condition. He was confined to his wheel chair because his mother did not know that he should be encouraged to exercise. Mentally he was obviously sharp and of age, but a lack of knowledge about the disease had unfortunately ensured the family had not worked with him to make his life more normal.

In Canada someone with CP would receive physiotherapy and speech therapy among other things and that would greatly increase quality of life. That sort of treatment is not readily available here and is certainly not easily attained financially.

Susan works in the pharmacy, but by profession is a speech therapist. Today there was a unique case where a child was slow developmentally and had a very limited vocabulary. The mother and child were walked over to pharmacy and introduced to Susan. Susan was able to show the mother, through an interpreter, how this little 3 year-old could be helped to move beyond a vocabulary of just three words.

Tomorrow is a day off before our last day of clinics on Saturday, and then we return home to Canada on Sunday.

Day 3 Clinic

The mood today was a little more frenzied. The need seemed palpable in the air and there seemed to be more desperation to get help.

Today our medical team was able to see over 500 patients (final count tomorrow). And to be clear that means our pharmacy team also saw close to the same number as the doctors, nurses and paramedics. We do have the occasional patient who may have something like a common cold, and therefore no medication is prescribed, but as a general rule we need to give anti-parasites, vitamins and then something that treats a more acute condition.

Our dental team was able to see 119 people. Very few, if any, had to be turned away, so it was a great success. The dental team worked until dark, something we try to avoid, but head lamps and flashlights kept the work going and we felt the satisfaction of seeing everyone we possibly could. Today we fired up the gas powered generator because there was not enough electrical supply to run all of the machines. Once that problem was solved, we were on track to see a record number of dental patients. We have four dentists working constantly.

More people, more children, and the kids program was vivacious again. A great story from the kids program came in from yesterday. Leah Katerberg, who works for FTC Canada, has been working in the kids program with Anne Stewart a volunteer and retired teacher from Oakville.

Yesterday they had children doing crafts, playing games, singing songs, and receiving face painting. In keeping with the trend of not being able to see everyone for dental medical care, as the end of the day neared it seemed that Leah was not going to be able to finish painting all the children’s faces. A little girl of about 7 or 8 had been helping Leah all day by holding the face crayons. She had not even had her turn yet. It occurred to Leah to teach her how to put a butterfly on a face so she could get more faces painted. She was timid, but Leah kindly insisted. Humorously, it seemed the training had already been done; having observed for a couple of hours, she simply took another crayon and began to paint faces as well!

Another integral part of the missions is our interpreters, many of whom are volunteers themselves from Nicaragua or a neighbouring country. Below, pictured with Anne and sharing a quiet moment, is Diana the interpreter for the children's program, . It has already been such a pleasure to team up with so many willing and skilled volunteers form Canada, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

Day 2 Clinic

Day 2 saw bigger crowds and unfortunately, we had to turn away many. Nevertheless, we were able to see 429 patients through the medical clinic and 102 through the dental clinic.

The work being done is really amazing. In the medical clinic everything from normal procedures (for us in Canada) like checking on the health of a newborn baby were being done, to more serious treatments of skin issues, and treatment of parasites, a common ailment down here.


Seeing Dr. Jack and his team work with the slightly to very nervous children is wonderful. The dentists are helping so many, but they are showing wonderful care and concern all the while.

The children’s program was terrific today! With three stations including crafts, games and face painting, it was a great treat for the kids and certainly a lot of fun. The children are able to take part in the program before and after medical treatment throughout the day.

Moreover, many families received food, we also gave toys, soccer balls and shoes to those in need.

Tomorrow we are going further out from Managua, so the drive will be a long one. More on that tomorrow.

Day 1 Clinic

Today we were in Villanueva at a little complex called Eden, a suburb of Managua. The lady who labours here is named Theresa. She runs a school the midst of unimaginable poverty. As part of her work she runs a feeding program three times a week which Feed the Children Nicaragua helps support.

Today we were able to see everybody who came. This is a first for our medical-dental trips so far. We arrived around 8:45am and were able to get started relatively quickly after set-up.

The three dentists were extremely busy, closing shop just after dark (our goal is to stop by dark) after seeing over 70 patients. They performed extractions and restorative work.

Our three doctors, three nurses and three paramedics were able to see over 355 patients who were then sent to pharmacy for the medicines and vitamins that were prescribed.

The children's program brings energy and distraction for the kids as we endeavour to process the crowds through the medical-dental stations. There is also a distribution station where food, clothing, and some age appropriate toys are distributed.

Today, a very young lady came to the clinic afraid that she was pregnant; a product of robbery and rape. Thankfully she was tested and was not pregnant. We were able to pray with her, encourage her and give her some preventative medicines as well.

Personal note. We are fortunate to have the opportunity to serve our humanity in this way. We do not want to bring anything to them they do not want (Western culture etc.) but we do want to bring health and love. [Note posted by Cliff Cline, FTC Canada's Director, Canadian Operations]

Here are some pictures from our day in Eden:

Before and After:







Helping through an interpreter:

Helping and remembering:

Pharmacy:

Medical-Dental Team Nicaragua 2008

The team has arrived safe and sound and we are currently settling into our hotel. It has been a long day of travel. Here are a few photos I took when we landed. We are a big team - 21 people, 39 bags, plus carry-ons and a massive amount of anticipation for what is to come.

Our Central Americal Director, Efrain, with some of his team.

A few members of the team on the way to hotel .


Dr.Tony and Efrain figuring something out.


And more to come. Tomorrow is orientation and planning and Monday is the first day of clinics.

Nicaragua Team departs October 25

It seems that we just returned from Guatemala, and already we are beginning to plan the schedule for our next project in Nicaragua.

Dr. Tony and I will be visiting Nicaragua in July to identify the five communities that will be visited by our team in late October. This will be done in cooperation with the Feed The Children Central America director, Efrain.

The Nicaragua team is in place. About one half of the 22 people involved are new. For some, it will be their third time on the team. Our team will include 3 doctors, a dentist, dental assistant, paramedics, 2 pharmacist and several nurses, complimented by several support staff. We will be joined by a dentist from El Salvador and other local support staff and translators.

While the clinics are going on each day, we will provide an exciting program for the children.

Along with medicines and vitamins, we will be distributing food and clothing.

All this takes money, so if you want to help support this project, please go to our web site and make a donation. Contact us if you have any questions.

Keep your eye on this blog, as we will be reporting activities before and after the trip.

Ken Dick, FTC President.

Special Report from Front Lines April 2008


ONA Members Help Needy in Guatemala

ONA members have once again proven that when it comes to helping those in need, their charitable work extends well beyond their own communities.

Melanie Fallis, a clinical research coordinator at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, and Anna Jewell and Charlene Dart, who work in the surgical services department at Lakeridge Health Corporation in Port Perry, were part of a contingent of Canadian doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists and paramedics who travelled to Guatemala in Central America for five days in late February 2008 to provide medical/ dental clinics to children and families – who average eight to 10 members – in desperate need of primary health care, and to distribute food, clothing and toys.

Feed the Children Canada
The trip was organized by Feed the Children (FTC) Canada, which, in partnership with Canadians, responds to the needs of children and their families in Canada and around the world by providing food, medicine, education and other essentials.

"We take our medical and dental teams to lesser developed countries because, in most cases, in the poor communities that we visit, the children and adults we treat have never seen a dentist or doctor," said FTC Canada President Ken Dick. "These services are unavailable due to the distance to a clinic and/ or the lack of funds to pay a doctor or dentist and/or to purchase medicines."

In conjunction with a local Guatemalan team of doctors, dentists, administrators and interpreters, and accompanied by members of the Guatemalan police to ensure their safety, the team treated more than 3,500 medical patients and 450 dental patients in five regions in the country.

Role of Our Members
"While in Guatemala, we worked as a team, assessing patients and delivering basic health care," said Dart, who along with Fallis and Jewell learned of the medical trip through Fallis’ brother-in-law Dr. Tony Brown, who is the medical advisor for FTC Canada. "We took blood pressures, blood sugars, listened to chests, checked ears, noses and throats, and listened to people via our translators."

"Vitamins and medications for parasites were given to everyone," pointed out Jewell, noting that a pharmacy was set up at each site.

"Poor living conditions, lack of clean water, substandard diet and a difficult life of hard labour all contributed to the medical issues we saw," which included dysentery, lice, parasites, scabies, respiratory ailments, gastritis, hypertension, diabetes, advanced tooth decay, colds, fevers, asthma, viral infections and injuries, said Fallis. She is hopeful "the local team will continue what we have started."

Giving Back
For the three nurses, who gave up precious vacation time to go – although they don’t look at it that way – it was a chance to give back to those less fortunate.

"I was looking for a new and different type of nursing experience that would contribute to the greater good and challenge me at the same time," said Fallis. "Guatemala was a compelling opportunity to help and learn."

"This was the perfect opportunity to see what most tourists wouldn’t be able to experience," added Jewell, who traveled on a FTC Canada medical trip to Honduras last year.

For Dart, Fallis and Jewell, the biggest reward was the genuine appreciation they felt from the local residents they came to help.

"Through education, encouragement, friendship and hope, I think we made a real difference in the lives of the people we met," stated Fallis.

"The Guatemalans were so thankful that we came to help them," added Dart. "The sincere ‘gracias, señora’ is what will take me back on another mission."

And she’s not the only one. Jewell said that she is hoping "for the privilege of participating in a medical/dental mission next year to El Salvador," while Fallis added that she would "volunteer again without hesitation."

The trip also helped the nurses appreciate what they have back home.

"I was very thankful to return home safely to a country that has a health care system like it has," remarked Jewell.

What ONA Members Can Learn
Fallis said if there’s one thing she wants other ONA members to take away from this story, it’s that these medical trips are an opportunity to invest your time and skills outside your current job.

"They serve as a reminder that the Learning never stops," she said. "There’s always a way to make a difference in the lives of others who need our help."

Reprinted with permission of the Ontario Nurses' Association