MedTeam Rescues Accident Victims

A medical team composed of nursing students from Samuel Merritt University in Oakland, CA were led by one of their instructors, Garry Johnson, RN. Traveling in Laos they came upon a late night accident involving two men who crashed their motorbike. Using medical supplies obtained by MedShare they went to work and were able to stabilize both victims who were suffering from severe head trauma.

San Jose State University Students Operate Mobile Health Clinic in Honduras

Dental issues, parasites, hypertension, bacterial infections and colds: these innocuous-when-treated medical issues can be lethal in a community lacking in resources and medical service.

In 2010, two groups of San Jose State University students committed to travel to Honduras to treat community members with illnesses like these with dignity and respect.

Volunteers serving in Honduras

A lofty goal, sure; but by recognizing the power of many and utilizing resources like MedShare’s MedTeam Store, these students served over 300 patients over the course of two trips in 2011.

Lily Yu, President of the San Jose State University Chapter of Global Medical Brigades, shared with us her account of the trip:

On behalf of the San Jose State University Global Medical Brigades team, I would like to take this opportunity to thank the MedShare Team for all of your help and support once again.

San Jose State University students serving in Honduras

In the summer of 2010, a team of 20 students came together to achieve a common goal: provide access to health care to a part of the world where it was limited. With MedShare’s help, we were able to successfully operate mobile clinics to help treat some of the most preventable health issues in San Antonio de Oriente, Honduras.

Our first medical brigade was in January 2011, where we successfully mobilized a free clinic to Honduras, treating over 300 patients with severe wounds from working on sugarcane fields, intestinal parasites, hypertension, bacterial infections, dental issues, and coughs and colds that have turned lethal due to the community’s location and lack of resources. After this first brigade, we knew that our work could not end there. In order to keep healthcare accessible to this community, my team and I decided we needed to continue our efforts.

Children in Honduras

In February 2011, we assembled another team of 25 student volunteers to mobilize a clinic back to Honduras for a brigade on August 14-20, 2011. I reached out to MedShare, and was delighted to hear that we had your support once again. Because MedShare believed in our work, we were inspired to serve San Antonio de Oriente again, where many new patients lined up to receive the care they deserved. We see the positive impact we made in this community in January and in August, and know that our efforts have helped improve their quality of life.

MedShare has empowered our organization to help change and impact the world, one healthy patient at a time. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts and hope to continue our efforts with your support.

If you would like to learn more about MedShare’s Medical Mission Team Store, click here.

This story is an excerpt from our January e-news. To read more – including a story of fate’s role in a Haiti container delivery and an incredibly dedicated high school volunteer – click here.

Making Art from Surplus Medical Supplies

You may know that MedShare is hosting two Faiths Act Fellows from The Tony Blair Faith Foundation, but did you know that they’re planning a World Malaria Day Art Auction?

The auction will take place on April 25, 2012. Local Atlanta artists to take part in this momentous endeavor include: Brian Walker, Alfred Conteh, Curtis McHardy, Masud Olufani, Chris Hutchinson, Paul Benjamin, Hailey Lowe, Stephen Hayes, Whitney White, Audrey Pollock, Dana Gray, Brian Hebert,Baba Ra Fudge, and Kottavei Williams. Other artists submitting orignal and printed pieces to the auction include: Jim Fiscus, Joey Fischer, Brenda Ball, Clint Fluker, and Kevin Cole. More details can be found here.

In preparation for the art auction, we hosted local artists earlier this week who created a work of art entirely from unused medical supplies. Here are photos of this impressive undertaking:

beginning stages

bottles are amoung the supplies used

Do you see the face coming through?

Another angle

Every 45 seconds, a child dies of malaria.

Finished work of art.

All proceeds from the World Malaria Day Art Auction will go directly towards the shipment of medical supplies to Sierra Leone.

MedShare featured on Groupon for Good! Donate now.

On January 31 – February 2, MedShare is the featured Groupon for Good campaign in the Atlanta and Athens markets. Donate $10 – which will be matched by MedShare – to send much needed medical supplies to Nepal. The link is: http://www.groupon.com/deals/gt-medshare-1.

G-Team is Groupon’s main philanthropic program designed to help their subscribers discover local causes in their own neighborhoods. In the same way that Groupon deals make it easier for people to discover their cities, G-Team campaigns make it easier for individuals to come together with others to do good, have fun, and make a real impact.

Click through to donate:

MedShare’s reason for participation is two-fold: we will be raising money to help sponsor a container of medical supplies and equipment to Nepal, and we’ll also be raising awareness of MedShare and our mission in Atlanta by utilizing Groupon’s huge subscriber base.

We encourage you to share the link with your friends and family via email, Facebook and Twitter. We need 50 people to buy into this deal @ $10 for MedShare to receive the donations. It will be live through Thursday, February 2nd.

Let’s see if we can make this the most successful Groupon charity campaign ever!