San Lucas 2024: Day 1

After scouting for a sustainable surgical mission site in 2009, Medical Missions Foundation found a perfect spot to provide much needed surgical healthcare in the beautiful region of Lake Atitlan in Guatemala. MMF has been coming here since 2010 and this week we are ready to provide a full week of general and gynecological procedures to the San Lucas Toliman community and patients from the many villages around the lake area.

Yesterday our group flew from Kansas City to Guatemala City with 19 volunteers and 1,900 pounds of surgical supplies. We then traveled in vans for 5 hours to arrive at our destination… Obras Sociales Monsenor Gregorio Schaffer Hospital.

Today we cleaned, unpacked, sorted and planned for surgeries to start Monday morning. We have a very diverse and dynamic group of volunteers representing eight hospital systems throughout the US. There are five surgeons, one emergency room physician, four anesthesia providers, five operating room RNs, one scrub technician, one instrument sterilization technician, three Pre-op and Post-op RNs and a Nurse Practitioner Mission Coordinator.

Our THOUGHT FOR THE DAY tomorrow is…
Far and away the best prize that life offers is the chance to work hard at work worth doing. Teddy Roosevelt.