Today we have a guest post from Pat Jackson who is a bilingual RN who travels to Peru each year with Global Health Ministry. We're sharing Pat's story! Without further hesitation here is Pat's story in her own words!
"Hi there, Pat Jackson here. I'm a bilingual RN and in 3 weeks I leave for Peru, a medical mission trip with Global Health Ministry that I've been doing for ten or so years now. It's an expensive endeavor and I stumbled upon a fundraiser that has really worked...The Great Tomato Sale. (I'm an RN, but a master gardener also, so why not combine these talents?)
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| A house call made in Peru with the Global Health Ministry |
The first year was serendipitous...I was teaching a seed-starting class, and included some of my own in the greenhouse, along with the students'. But when 100 tomato plants "took," I wondered what I'd do with them. Ran to St. Francis Hospital, my then-employer, who is affiliated with Global Health Ministry. The plants sold out in an hour. The next year, I tried for 200 and it was a hit.
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| Villagers in Peru that need medical care |
Well, I moved north to Vermont, had no greenhouse at my disposal, but continued this mission trip. How would I pull this off? So I called my good friend, HG Haskell, and presented my dilemma. His only question: "how many plants do you need?" And I had the nerve to request 300! Since then, he has been supplying me with the crux of my fundraising for this 2-week trip to Chulucanas, Peru. Amazing!
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| Tomato Plant Starts in the SIW Greenhouse |
GHM has two trips to Peru: one in June for Primary Care where many of us travel 5-6 hours up into the mountains, offering care to folks who may only see a doctor -- us -- once a year! We also triage the patients for the October surgery trip where at least 200 surgeries are performed in two weeks, 3 surgical rooms running non-stop. All our services are free. Without this most of these patients would never receive care.
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| One of the Global Health Ministry doctors with a patient after surgery |
So, my mantra is: "great tomatoes here, free healthcare there." Can't go wrong, right? What a guy, that HG.
We thank Pat for sharing her story and doing the amazing work she's doing! Keep it up, Pat!!
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