Her husband had been unfaithful and given her a sexually transmitted disease. She was afraid that if she touched the children, she would infect them.

We were able to tell her that the disease can be prevented and we gave her medicine to take as she felt the onset of an outbreak. I have never seen anyone cry like that. We were all crying too!

When we prayed with her and told her she could go home and hug and kiss her children is was as if the weight of the world had been lifted.

- Dr. Christian Kraeker

His name was Duban Mendosa and he was 11 years old. He had been hit in the eye with a piece of wood and the eye could not be saved.

I usually give all my patients sunglasses to help protect their good eye, and he was thrilled to have “cool shades.”

After he saw himself in the mirror he gave us a big smile and two thumbs up. Then he hopped out of his chair and I got a huge hug from a grateful little boy!

- Janet Thompson, Colombia Participant

After washing the areas and applying compression dressings, we tried to teach her how to use crutches properly; but bearing weight on either leg was painful.

She quickly became frustrated and was looking discouraged when one of our team members suggested that we give her the walker we had been keeping in triage.

The differences in her mobility and demeanour, upon receiving the walker, were astounding; and I managed to capture the moment when she was able to walk comfortably across the room for the first time in months.

- Clayton Foster, Medical Student

When I went to the room with Dr. Teo Beato, we found the young man lying in the bed complaining of severe pain with every breath.

He had three stab wounds and one was located directly over his heart. A chest X-ray showed an enlarged heart and we could not hear any heart sounds.

Every time he took a breath his blood pressure dropped. All these signs suggested that he had pressure on the heart which helped us make the decision to take him directly to surgery.

When we opened the chest, we found the stab wound had cut the sack of the heart about 2 inches and there was a clean cut in the heart wall of the left ventricle about 2 inches long and 1/2 an inch deep.

God’s Protection

The Lord kept the knife in the wall of the heart and it never entered the ventricle chamber! To repair the damage, we needed to sew the heart muscle together even though we did not have the necessary instruments or suture to work on a beating heart.

Dr. Teo Beato and Dr. Steve Reitz helped spread the ribs with abdominal retractors so I could visually see the heart and work on it.

We could see that the Lord was with us that day in Las Matas de Farfan as we worked under difficult circumstances and with limited equipment, to save the life of this young man. He did very well and went home in four days.

He not only went home with a physically healed heart but the day after his surgery, after talking with Milton, our team evangelist, he accepted Christ as his Savior and had a spiritually healed heart also!

God is so good and we praise Him for being with the whole team in the operating room that day.

- Dr. Suleman Sadiq, Medical Director for the Las Matas de Farfan,Dominican Republic Project

In July, the Manabi, Ecuador team had the blessed opportunity to serve and encourage Elisa both medically and spiritually. First, Dr. Floyd Livingston verified her general health. Next, Pastor Gilbert and our translator, JJ, shared the gospel and encouraged her to become part of the local church.

Finally, Dr. Cal Ramage extracted two of her teeth while two MMI team members stood by Elisa and held her hands. Though our time with Elisa was short, we prayerfully trust that God used the team not only to bring her relief but also hope.

Please pray for Elisa and for every other patient that we serve. Each person has a story, and God loves each one dearly. As Jesus said, Whatever you do for the least of these, you do for me.

- David Dodd, General Helper, Manabi, Ecuador, Medical & Dental Project

On the last day of our project, we came across Fidenel, a nine year old boy who was blind in his right eye due to corneal scarring.

In his left eye, we discovered a large mass on his cornea and concluded that the mass was a result of his iris protruding through a corneal ulcer. He was in urgent need of a corneal transplant.

Fidenel was diagnosed with Vitamin A deficiency, the leading cause of childhood blindness in developing countries. The condition causes the cornea to lose its integrity and perforations can form spontaneously.

Window of Opportunity

If left untreated, Fidenel would lose sight in his left eye, and spend the rest of his life in darkness. There is no eye bank in Haiti to provide the necessary transplant tissue; nor is there a corneal transplant specialist to perform the surgery. We had a very small window of opportunity to save the vision in his left eye.

If left untreated, Fidenel would spend the rest of his life in darkness.During dinner that evening, our team brainstormed how we could help this child. We considered sending him to the Dominican Republic or Miami to have the surgery. But doing so was impossible.

Fidenel had neither a passport nor the necessary paperwork in order to leave the country; and since the earthquake, transporting a child out of the Haiti had become nearly impossible. He had a few weeks, at most, until he would be completely blind.

Planning the Transplant

We soon realized the best option would be to bring a corneal transplant surgeon and the necessary tissue to Haiti to perform the surgery.

We spoke with the young boy’s family and let them know the steps we would be taking to try to help save their son’s vision. From there, we bought Vitamin A for his recovery and registered him in a local nutrition program. The next day, we left Haiti with a plan in place; but there were many details still to be confirmed.

When I returned from Haiti, I sent an email to every corneal transplant surgeon I knew – asking for help. I contacted the Florida Lions Eye Bank at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute to try to find a cornea to purchase for Fidenel.

After hearing the story of Fidenel, the director of the eye bank, Jorge Pena, MD, returned my call and said they would like to donate a cornea and ship it free of charge.

Three days later, a twelve year old cornea became available – and the donation was made! A corneal transplant tissue has a short, finite lifespan and must be used quickly. The donation started a mad race to find the surgeon we needed, raise funds, obtain a Haitian work visa, secure OR time with anesthesia coverage, arrange to find Fidenel, and get him to Port au Prince.

Putting the Pieces Together

After a myriad of phone calls and emails between MMI team members, Dr. Pierre De Castro in Haiti and MMI Haiti Director Timothy DeYoung, the pieces to the puzzle began to fall miraculously together when Dr. Miguel Lopez, a corneal surgeon from MMI’s Elias Santana Hospital in Santo Domingo Dominican Republic, volunteered his surgical services.

Within 24 hours, the Haiti Eye team members raised the funds needed to cover the transportation expenses for Fidenel and his family – to and from Port Au Prince – for the surgery, his post-op visits, rental of the operating room, the costs of the anesthesia provider, and the flight expenses to fly Dr. Lopez to Port Au Prince, Haiti, to perform the intricate surgery.

The cornea was shipped to the Dominican Republic where Dr. Lopez received the corneal tissue. He then carried the tissue on his flight to Port au Prince on Saturday morning. Fidenel received his surgery that afternoon.

The surgical team included Dr. Lopez from the Dominican, Dr. Pierre DeCastro and MMI ophthalmic surgical assistant, Wislande Joseph, from Haiti.

God’s Miraculous Provision

The surgery was a success and all went well. Fidenel now has normal vision!

It was incredible to see people from 4 different countries – USA, Canada, Dominican Republic, and Haiti – come together for this one child.

As a result, Fidenel will be spared a life of total darkness. Haiti is a country with more political, public health, and economic problems than I can fathom.

Encountering Fidenel was a lesson from our Heavenly Father: we may not be able to change the massive problems that one country faces following a devastating earthquake, but we can make a difference for one individual that He divinely places in our path.

- Dr. Kevin Barber, Ophthalmologist and Medical Director for the Haiti Eye Project

Francis told us that the man was excited because a year ago his wife had surgery during an MMI project. He invited us to his house and Francis told him yes and off we went. His wife was just as excited to see us.

Neither the man nor his wife were Christians, but the woman prayed to God every day and believed that he created everything and provided all good things.

We explained that his name is Jesus and presented the gospel, and the woman prayed with us to accept Christ!
- Brad & Amy Doles, General Helpers

Ramon was 9 years old and weighed 37 pounds.

As I looked him over I noticed a chronic cough, a mass in his upper abdomen, an enlarged liver, and distended veins in his abdominal wall indicating portal hypertension. He looked sickly and needed help. Yet, he had this infectious smile that just won your heart.

I asked the mother to bring Ramon the next day to the hospital so I could have Teo look at him and possibly arrange more help for this little boy. She and Ramon were there the next day only to learn that Ramon had an incurable condition, probably cystic fibrosis.

When I saw Ramon at the hospital, I gave him one of our cloth surgical caps to wear. His smile totally covered his face and he walked proudly out of the hospital sporting his new headgear. I felt so bad that there was nothing we could do for Ramon. Yet, he taught me another dimension of love and faith.
- Marvin Eastlund, Medical Director

The patient I remember best is a man about 45 years old who had never worn glasses. He needed a bifocal so we found our best match.

His prescription was fairly strong and I could tell he was pretty nervous. When I put his glasses on him he started to smile, then laugh, then shook my hand and hugged my interpreter and me.

The realization of what this means to his quality of life is overwhelming. Possibly new job opportunities will be available; he no longer has to depend on others to help with simple daily tasks.

Most importantly, he can now see the faces of his wife and children.
- Christine Kinakin

She still had an eye in the socket so we tried to grind an artificial one to fit over her eye. We asked her to come back the next day and I would try to fit her.

I tried to grind an artificial eye to allow for a scar on her eye. I ground it until there wasn’t much left. I asked God to help me make it right so that it would fit properly. When she came in I said, Lord,this is it. I need help because there is only one chance for this to fit and look good.

I put the eye in and she was beautiful. She was happy beyond words.

- Lawrence Lundgren, Artificial Eye Tech