*Long story short- last year’s medical mission, I was able to fund myself the $800, due to a generous donor who sponsored the OR team, however, due to covid, we do not have a sponsor for this year, making the trip $2350*

**your donation is tax-deductible & any excess donations will go to other members of my team**

Please read on if you’d like to learn why this is such an important cause, and thank you so much for your time and generosity :) 

As an OR nurse, I joined the HELPS Medical Mission team in 2020. HELPS sends teams to Guatemala every year to provide basic healthcare and pro-bono surgery for people who do not have the luxury of easy access to healthcare. Some of these patients wait all year (or multiple years) to be seen by doctors. 40% of Guatemala is indigenous and most of them live in such rural parts of the country, that they end up traveling 6+ hours to 3 days(!!!) on foot, just to be seen by us.

Our team went in February 2020, saw 1,309 patients in clinics, and we turned one large room on a military base into 4 makeshift operating rooms, with limited resources, and were able to provide 133 adult & pediatric surgeries in just 4 days. We worked tirelessly from sunrise til 10-11 pm to squeeze in as many patients as we could, knowing that those we missed may not get the care they need for a year, or even longer.

Unfortunately due to covid-19, we were the very last medical mission team allowed in (and out) of Guatemala.  They immediately closed their borders and have been really strict about allowing anyone in, because their infrastructure wouldn’t be able to handle huge outbreaks the way we have seen and handled in more fortunate countries as ours. 

This means that we were unable to make it there for our 2021 medical mission, which means that there are thousands of Guatemalans who aren’t receiving the immediate medical care that they need.

Fortunately, we were recently told we are able to go in January 2022, as a fully vaccinated team, and are bracing ourselves for what kind of medical attention these patients will require. It is unknown if they will be vaccinated at the time we’ll be there, but the urgency and importance of these patients receiving basic, necessary healthcare, when we have the privilege of being protected from the virus, surpasses that concern.

Any little bit donated to this cause will help tremendously, and I can share stories, photos, and videos with anyone interested, so you can see the direct efforts of your generosity.

Thank you ❤️