What is World
Medical Mission (WMM) and what is the Post Residency Program (PRP)?
- WMM sends hundreds of doctors every year to 45
remote mission hospitals and clinics around the world.
- Doctors can serve anywhere from two weeks to two
years.
- WMM is the medical arm of Samaritan’s
Purse. In addition to sending doctors
and dentists as volunteers, WMM serves as a lifeline to dozens of mission
hospitals by providing millions of dollars worth of critically needed equipment
and supplies.
- World Medical Mission’s PRP is a fully funded two-year
program for Christian physicians and their families who desire to do medical
missions long term.
- Through the PRP, post-residents work alongside
veteran missionary doctors. This allows
them to hone and develop the skills needed to practice medicine in a developing
country.
- There is a desperate need for medical expertise
in the developing world and the PRP trains and equips doctors to work in this
setting.
What is
Samaritan’s Purse (SP)?
- SP is an international Christian relief organization
headed by Franklin Graham that provides an immediate, no-red-tape response to
the physical and spiritual needs of individuals in crisis situations.
- SP has worked in more than 100 countries to
provide aid to victims of war, disease, disaster, poverty, famine and
persecution.
- For more information and to see what projects
are currently underway please visit samaritanspurse.org
Tell me more
about Hospital of Hope (HOH)
- The hospital opened on March 2, 2015 (so it is
very new for a mission hospital).
- It is located in northern Togo on the outskirts
of a town with a population of around 40,000.
- There is a sister hospital in the southern part
of the country. Several years ago the
missionaries there recognized that there was no adequate health care available
in the northern part of the country so the idea for HOH was born.
- There is currently one expatriate midwife at HOH
in addition to several expatriate pediatricians, family physicians, an ER
doctor and a general surgeon, but I will be the first ob/gyn. I am looking forward to helping this
department grow and develop over the next two years.
- Many of the women in the area have never had
access to an ob/gyn (or health care for that matter) so they are used to
delivering their babies at home and living with treatable gynecological
conditions.
- Patients also come from neighboring countries
like Ghana, Benin and Burkina Faso for treatment.
- The hospital is located in a predominantly
Muslim region.
Tell me more
about Togo
- Their economy depends on agriculture.
- There are 5 physicians for every 100,000 people.
- The maternal mortality rate is 368 deaths per
100,000 live births (28 per 100,000 in the US)
- The infant mortality rate is 45 deaths per 1,000
live births (6 per 1,000 in the US). **The
US actually has pretty high maternal and infant mortality rates compared to
other developed nations.
-55% of women are literate.
-55% of women are literate.
Ok…now that
everyone knows the nitty-gritty I will focus on posting more exciting stories
in the future!
So, when do
I leave for Togo?
I wish it
was soon, but I have to go to language school first in order to learn French. French
is the national language and must be learned even though many of the Togolese people
still speak tribal languages. There will
be translators at the hospital to help translate between French and the other
languages spoken by the patients.
The language
school I will be attending is in…Switzerland!
Who would have ever thought?! I am excited to have the chance to live in
Switzerland for a while, but I literally know about 5 French phrases and I am
not great with languages so it will still be a rough six months of study and
immersion.
I will talk
to you all again once I get to language school.
I am leaving in early August.
Thank you so
much for following along on my journey!
**The views expressed in this blog are mine
and do not necessarily reflect the views of Samaritan’s Purse.
