The Rotary Club of Livingston on Thursday heard a program about a life-changing medical mission to Mazatenango, Guatemala through the Faith in Practice organization from two people who went on the mission trip March 22-29 – Rotarian Mindy Ellis and Dr. Ray Luna.
Based in Houston, Faith In Practice is a non-profit, ecumenical Christian organization that seeks to improve the physical, spiritual and economic conditions of the poor in Guatemala through integrated surgical, medical and dental mission trips and health-related educational programs.
The March trip was Ellis’s ninth mission trip.
“There are 17.1 million people living in Guatemala and 59% of those people are living in poverty. Eighty percent of the physicians work in Guatemala City and not in the rural areas,” Ellis said, adding that 42 medical missions and surgical teams will be going to Guatemala in 2025.
She said there were 29 people on the team, nine of whom were first-time team members, and nine interpreters. Team members included gynecologists, pediatricians, orthopedists, general medicine, pharmacy specialists and nurses. She said most of the team was from Texas.
Ellis said the crops primarily grown in Mazatenango are sugar cane, coffee and rubber.
Over the course of the week-long trip, the team saw 929 patients, Ellis said. One hundred fifty-four people were given mobility assistance, 216 people were given surgical referrals and 729 people were seen by the pharmacy.
Ellis said the oldest person treated was 109 years old and the youngest was 23 days.
Luna said the team in which he and Ellis were on was a primary care team that went out into the rural areas.
“The pharmacy was busy. We sent over 700 to the pharmacy, most with more than one script,” Luna said. He said there is a surgical center in Antigua that performed 2,600 surgeries last year, most of which were done by volunteers from America.
“The municipalities were very accepting of us and the Guatemalans volunteered to help. They have a health system there, but it is inadequate,” Luna said.
Commenting on how rewarding the mission trip was, Luna said it also represented the ideals of Rotary – truth, fairness, good will, friendship and being beneficial to others.
