International Projects at 1310 West Main Street, Lexington, KY 40508-2048 US - Medical Mission Ecuador

From what started as a small enterprise of himself, an anesthesiologist and a nurse, MME has grown into a large and successful yearly enterprise.  Although the group prefers to take smaller groups for logistics reasons, they have taken as many as 65 doctors on a single trip.  The bulk of the participants are from Kentucky and the University, but some participants come from as far away as Wisconsin, Chicago and Alabama.  Their specialties cover just about any type of medicine you can think of.  One of the things the group tries to do is to bring doctors in diverse specialties. As Dr Carol Cottrill, an active and long term member in MME, puts it, it doesn't do you much good to have 40 cardiologists.  The community of Ambato has about 175,000 residents, and MME tries to provide them with medical care to the various types of ailments that a community that size has.

Each February MME sends a team down to Ecuador for 2 weeks. They generally arrive on Sunday, and begin doing some preliminary evaluations on Monday while the nurse set up and unpack.  The rest of the week is spent doing surgeries and seeing patients.  As incredible as it may seem, on some trips they have seen up to 2,400 patients and preformed close to 300 surgeries.  The second week is mostly reserved for follow up visits and to assure that the surgeries have gone well.  This is a grueling schedule, but the team works to make the most out of the short time they have.

In addition to providing treatment, MME also donates supplies.  They hospital they use for their two week visit is in operation the rest of the year with local staff, and they try to provide the hospital with the medical equipment and supplies they need.  Some of these are big things, like the heart and lung machine provided by St Joseph, and others more simple- paint, sheets, folding chairs.  On their first trips, the hospital beds lacked sheets and multiple children shared the same beds.  The rooms were unpainted and lacked curtains or places where the mothers watching over their children could sit.  The team slowly began investing in the appearance of the hospital, and the locals followed suit.  One year the team painted the walls of the rooms, and the Ecuadorian staff, inspired, painted the cheerful figures seen in the photo above.

The project has always been and will continue to be about serving the needs of the people of Ambato.  MME works hard to listen to their needs and to fill them.  However, as Dr Cottrill points out, ultimately the goal is to make MME obsolete.  They would like to see the medical community of Ambato be completely self sufficient and self-sutaining.  Until that day though, they will continue to share their time and talents with them. 

Interested in donating to or participating in MME? Go to their website www.medicalmissionecuador.com.  There you can find more information about their work, application forms, and ways to be involved and contribute.