I have been a part of a GHO team to Gambia (GHO is the outreach arm of Christian Medical and Dental Association) for two years and am very excited about returning for a third year this upcoming April.
The only way I can put my experience into words is that I had the extraordinary opportunity to have a front row seat to see God at work.
I served along side of selfless, tireless Doctors, nurses, psychologist, physical therapists, ultrasonographers and just all out servants ranging from teenagers to just over 70. We, as a team, but much more like a family, were able to provide various medical services to over 1.000 people in the course of one week on the ground. Everyone seen was also lovingly presented the gospel at every interaction. Approximately 100 people each year proclaimed Christ as their Lord and Savior. Between the first and second year, the team members used their pooled funds to make sure three young kids got to a location in India to have heart procedures performed . If these operations didn't occur these precious lives would not be with us today.
The GHO does this on repeat around the world annually, in places where the people would otherwise not be able to have any medical care, with multiple teams.
If you are looking to make a difference in the world for some of the least of these, look no further. But don't just give, go! Be a part of a team and experience this for yourself and be blessed beyond your imagination.
It is with a heavy heart that I leave a negative review for this organization which exists, ostensibly, to provide medical and dental services to the world's poor. Our staff and partners hosted a team of more than a dozen doctors and dentists from GHO in Yangon, Burma. For 14 days our personnel provided transportation, lunch, and guide services for the team at considerable expense of time and money. Our staff of national leaders operate on a shoestring budget as they provide a home and education to 33 abandoned and orphaned children. Imagine our surprise when this large team of professionals from America left the country after 14 days and provided only $850 to their hosts. This amount was not even enough to cover the expenses of food and gasoline, to say nothing of the man-hours involved in hosting them and, which is more egregious, to say nothing of the shameful act of refusing to participate in the daily ministry of providing for the needs 33 orphans! We felt used and exploited to provide touristic services for the benefit of a wealthy American nonprofit at the expense of their in-country hosts.
I feel sure that the doctors and dentists involved would be horrified to learn that the little orphanage they visited actually lost money on the GHO team and footed some of the expenses of their trip. The orphanage is in dire need of so many things and yet none of the team members or any of the leadership from GHO cared to even ask. Their purpose seemed focused on getting served, not serving and to pay as little as possible for those services.
I hope the leadership of GHO will reevaluate the exploitative nature of the paltry remuneration and support they offer to their hosts. For out part, we are developing a "minimum support policy" to protect our partners and friends in Myanmar and elsewhere from being exploited by team-sending organizations in the future.
Review from Guidestar