UMVIM Broadcast Priority Email a Great Help

In late April a combined AHMEN/CHIMES medical mission will be heading to Honduras.  We will be going to the area known as the Mosquito Coast, or La Moskitia.  Located in the Rio Plátano Biosphere, the largest are of rain forest out the Amazon, it is far from the areas visited by most mission teams.  This area, in the Department de Gracias a Dios, is the home to many indigenous peoples,  Besides the Garifuna, there are Miskito and Pech Indians, as well as Ladinos.

Travel times and distances are extreme.  We run out of "road" about ten hours east of La Ceiba, and we still have hours in a large canoe to get to some of the villages we will visit.  Because of the travel involved, this has to be longer than the average AHMEN trip.  We will be in-country thirteen days,  Not many people can leave their lives in the States and disappear into the rain forest for two weeks.

To add needed medical personnel to our roster, I contacted Cristin Farrington at UMVIM to see if she had any leads to medical personnel seeking a challenging mission experience.  Soon thereafter, a Priority broadcast email went out to everyone on the UMVIM mailing list.  Later that day, I started to get phone calls from people offering their services.  Because of all the calls, I actually had to change my voice mail message to direct respondents send me an email as I was getting "troubling" looks from my employer at work.

After looking closely at every respondent's credentials and experience, came the difficult choice.  This being an entirely medical mission, with limited transportation and lodging availability, we were forced to pick those that could offer the most for our mission.   It really bothered me to say no to those willing to help Honduras.

As a result of the UMVIM email, we were able to strengthen our team with the addition of a physician, at least two nurses and most likely a pharmacist.