See more photos from the trip on the Project Belize flickr photostream >>
From a Project Belize, Inc. member:
Saying hello to a stranger while brushing my teeth who turned out to be a doctor of nursing on a medical mission 8 years ago, was the serendipitous encounter that has led to my involvement with Project Belize.
This year’s trip marks 5 consecutive Mays that I have returned to the speechless beauty that is Belize and its people to serve.
The results are in: 55 of us made up of MDs, PhDs, nurses, nursing students and even family members with backgrounds in lawncare, a flight attendant, a fine arts enthusiast, and even a few high school students.
We rallied from all over the US from Illinois, Texas, Minnesota, Louisiana, Tennessee, North Carolina, New York, and Florida, most of us complete strangers to one another.
We were able to serve 16 villages and an orphanage in the rural Toledo District of Belize. We treated 2,080 people and stocked their year round Hillside clinic with much needed supplies and medications.
We saw everything from a 93 year old female with broken femur to an 18 month old with a fungal infection that covered her entire body, we did general checkups and preventative medicine, brought Sawyer water filtration systems for our more remote villages, and of course passed out hygiene swag.
It’s one of the longest most tiring weeks I’ll experience; but it’s the most rewarding. My heart and soul thrives for the next 365 because of the good ju ju this mission is all about. The souls I have been blessed to be touched by range from a family of 7 in Blue Creek that I have watched grow up to the youngest 75ish rare Democrat from East Texas with more wisdom and knowledge about love and life than you can shake a stick at.
We see beginners blossom in these clinics, veterans rekindling their passion, feel support that is cast from all of those that appreciate our work, and the gratitude radiate from those we treat. Project Belize 2018 was an absolute blessing to be apart of. RB
