Finally the container was released from customs

Our team spent many hours unloading, washing, sorting and distributing the container supplies. Just seeing the joy in the people's eyes when they received the much needed medical equipment etc was the most amazing experience for the four of us. The people were so thankful. We want to say a big thank you to everyone who donated items, their time and money to make this possible.

Container bound for Nicaragua is loaded with medical equipment and supplies

It looked like an outdoor market specifically for doctors and nurses.

The Spruce Lodge parking lot was full of medical equipment including anesthetic machines, infant warmers and hospital beds and mattresses on Saturday morning. The equipment worth about $100,000 was donated from Stratford General and other hospitals, Spruce Lodge and other donors.

It was being loaded up and will be shipped in a 40-foot container to a rural hospital in Nicaragua. A local Canadian Outreach Medical and Mission Team (COMMIT) will go down in January including nurse Janice Rauser who has been to the area several times on medical and humanitarian missions. Some patients in the Nandaime hospital lie on sheets directly on the bed springs because there are no mattresses, she said. As for equipment, there's a severe shortage.

The baby warmers and ultrasound machines are outdated by Canadian standards but they'll make a big difference in a hospital with little or no equipment at all, she stressed.

The COMMIT mandate is to provide long-term care to a community or region.

“Our idea is to leave something behind, not just a band aid that falls off,” Rauser said.

They've already made several medical trips including one in which first aid was taught in the community after a farmer cut himself with a machete. His wife sewed him up with a needle and thread. As a result, Dr. Doug Thompson taught a suturing class.

The team has plans to improve water quality, which will also improve the health of residents, by digging wells in two separate communities. The cost will be about $89,000.

“The long-term goal is they won't need us. We're going to work ourselves out of a job and pick two more villages,” said nurse Pam Murray.

In the meantime, they'll continue to work with people who have illnesses or conditions that are preventable. Rauser recalled seeing a 10-year-old boy with a sore throat who couldn't “open wide” because he was tongue tied. Here that's a simple fix for a new born.

“It's an easy and quick procedure. He had gone 10 years with this problem,” she said. “Here you would never have a 10-year-old with a tongue tie.”

It was no longer a simple fix either. A dentist had to cut through muscle that had developed to free his tongue.

On the last trip, the team also had a physiotherapist join them. They're hoping to have another one step forward as well as a pharmacist who can join them next January when they go back.

In addition to the medical equipment, water filters were donated by the Rotary Club of Stratford and 30 sewing machines were donated to start a sewing cooperative. The cooperative will give people work and the skills and equipment to mend sheets and hospital gowns.

To join the mission or make a donation contact Rauser at janice.rauser@gmail.com

laura.cudworth@sunmedia.ca