Sticking to our New Year’s Resolution
Nearly 80% of New Year’s resolutions are ditched by February. It’s hard to change your routine and stick to a new lifestyle or goal when you’ve been doing the same things month after month, year after year.
Mission to Heal took the risk of being part of this statistic and set out a new year’s resolution for 2023, which is to build lasting relationships with the health centers we serve. We plan to do this by returning – month after month, year after year – to bring transformational experiences to the medical professionals we train and educate.
The first mission in Kenya was a great test of that resolution. Our team returned to places we’d traveled before and picked up where we left off with local healthcare professionals, who matched our enthusiasm to be back in the region.
After 3 weeks of training & learning, here are the stats:
But those are just numbers. Here are the stories and people that drive us to come back and continue reaching our goals.
Muhammed is an orthopedic specialist from Uganda who trained with Mission to Heal in 2022. He believes in the value of sustainable healthcare education, and wanted to be part of our work in Kenya. Muhammed spent the entire month with us, serving as an inspiration to Kenyan trainees that even a few days or weeks of learning can bring long-term value to your community.
Sam, our Director of Operations, was excited to return to Kenya after a four year pause in our missions there. He was thrilled that not only did the people still remember Mission to Heal, but have been continuing to perform operations we taught them in 2019. “It’s special to build a history with a community,” says Sam.
And from Dr. Glenn’s journals:
“Our mission in Gatab has gone well with the addition of both a sonographer and sonogram machine, and the contribution of dental skill from former trainees. It has done what we had promised: to lift the care to a new level. Now we will use the practitioners of that new level of care going forward, as we’ll ask one or more of them to join us as trainers in the next missions in nearby villages. Coming soon in March!”
Our vision has always been to “go the extra mile” and provide care in the most isolated regions of the world. We are encouraged that our new goal pairs so well with this, and that these opportunities to build relationships aren’t going away any time soon.
