Medical Expeditions
Join us on our next medical expedition!
Sionfonds takes biannual medical trips to Haiti in November and April. Our teams are comprised of Doctors, Dentists, Nurses, Midwives, other medical personnel and lay people. We create 1 and 2 day clinics at Sionfonds’ schools and in other rural communities. We work where free medical care is unavailable. Our goal is to provide health education and acute care, to administer deworming medications and vitamins and provide dental care and sealants to prevent cavities, for all our students and the community members in need.
Since the beginning of these expeditions we have seen a marked improvement in the health of students at our schools.
Our medical teams donate their time and skills as well as pay their own way and raise funds to buy the medications and medical supplies. To support their efforts please use the Donate Now button.
Our next medical Expedition will be on May of 2012
Please visit this medical expeditions blog post on this website for more information about out trips.
What past team members have to say
November 2009 Medical trip
“Reading about third-world poverty and driving through poverty-stricken areas with their colorful signs, road-side vendors and general clamor is to experience another culture. To stand in scrubs and a facemask and peer into the mouths of people who have never seen a dentist before is to experience the reality of another century. It is a glimpse into a life of constant pain and irritation and is a real insight into what advanced poverty means. I always thought that the lack of food and clean water was the biggest hindrance to life in undeveloped countries, but I was overlooking the issue of being deprived of all the comforts provided by simple painkillers and antibiotics, not to mention all the advancements in medicine that we are accustomed to enjoying.
My experience in Haiti was of both another culture and another time. There are many different forms that volunteer work can take, but it was this aspect of health—an issue so private and also so public, that draws me to the urgency of this charity. When called on to donate against such a huge need, any contribution can look insufficient. However, I experienced the difference that handing out a toothbrush and toothpaste can make, and I have learned to realize that in Haiti, a small amount really does go a long way.” ~Elizabeth Kriesten 11/09 Medical trip
Dr Sakti Das April 2010 Medical Expedition
” Last April I joined our Sionfonds team to provide medical care in the earthquake devastated Haiti. Health care in Haiti was already in shambles and the earthquake has magnified the existing mayhem into critical chaos. Our team of dentists, doctors, nurses, midwife and volunteers worked in several makeshift clinics in rural Haiti helping scores of poor Haitians in clinical and preventive cares. As a surgeon I initially felt restrained by the lack of surgical facilities, but felt gratified by offering my services in the limited resources working with others. What impressed me most was the dedicated help of the local Haitian volunteers in interpreting, assisting and keeping the place alive with their youthful ‘joie de vivre’. I would love to return with Sionfonds to help Haiti recover.” ~Dr Sakti Das 4/10 Medical trip
Think occasionally of the suffering of which you spare yourself the sight.’ – Albert Schweitzer
Maggie Ewing April 2010 Medical Expedition
“I have been a participant on two volunteer medical trips with Sionfonds to villages in rural Haiti. Although it is always frustrating to offer limited resources in the midst of such great need, the Sionfonds trips bring crucial supplies and skills to remote areas of Haiti that have scant existing resources. The clinic locations and logistics of providing care are managed by the Haitian staff and Annie Blackstone. Many of the team members are Haitian health professionals and translators. Medical and dental volunteers from the US and Canada bring needed supplies and skills. There are long work days in very warm weather and at times many hours traveling on bad roads. But the opportunity to travel and work in Haiti is always life changing and affirming, also fun. On both trips I was accompanied by my young adult children. We were always safe and well cared for. Annie is a skilled and resourceful manager and a wonderful travel companion. We hope to volunteer again in the future.” ~Maggie Ewing RN 4/10 and 11/08 Medical trips