I had always wanted to serve in some sort of medical mission. I am thankful that Mercy Trips was my first experience in medical missions. Traveling to Uganda and serving the people in such a capacity as this has forever changed my life. Dr. Daniel & Dr. Mutono have created and developed a beautiful mission. I experienced what it was like to work with very little, but to have the greatest results. The staff at Kanginima Hospital were so gracious and kind. We were able to serve in a physical as well as a spiritual manner. We represent Christ and His love. Getting to share that with those we came into contact with was amazing. Language differences were not even a problem. We worked very hard. Every moment was worth it. Our travel, accomodations and meals provided were well organized and thought through. Dr. Daniel has a great team including his wife Betsy to work out all the details. I plan on joining the medical team again in January 2011.
my goodness,what wonderful camp at kanyinema Palisa. i hope god blessed us. i miss Dr. Daniel,The sisters above all the America group. hope to meet in Portpotal next year.
this is john wolimbwa, a medical theatre assistant.
I have heard stories of Dr. Daneil's team trips to Uganda for years. I have always felt a calling to go on a medical mission. Even hearing advice and stories from those that have gone on this mission before, I was unprepared. I was truly humbled daily in meeting and interacting with the people we met. Everyone was happy and joyful, but most of all greatful. It made me realize how much we take for granted, especially those of us in the medical field. Having limited supplies and medications made us appreciate what we did have. I saw the hand of God at work daily. People that lived with little and had medical conditions that we in the U.S. would complain about, we rejoicing in what God has provided them .
I had a completely different view before I left on the Mercy Trip Ugandan Mission Trip. I thought I was going out to show God in this great America that us Christians were here to bring the masses to Christ...I was so wrong...I saw more God in these people than I had ever seen. Talk about faith...they have the utmost faith in our services, these beautiful people feel priveleged to be near us. We get the respect of the leaders of the surrounding villages with no fear of reprisal. They honor us with their presence. Dr. Mutono and his wife Helen kept us informed and happy, my best evenings were shared with these wonderful people that left a good life and moved with their children to open the hospital at Kangimina in Uganda. The children were amazing, when we would take them in for their procedures they were well behaved and almost stoic and grateful for the care. The women were always thanking us. This was an amazing time for me, besides helping in the OR, I realized how much we take for granted in this country and we are never quite happy. I saw true joy in the hearts and faces of the people we were here to serve. willing to share what little they had with us and each other.
Mercy Trip provides health care and surgery to villagers in eastern Uganda. It works directly with Dr Patrick Mutono a Ugandan docter who has established a hospital in the village he grew up in. Patrick and his team also arrange medical clinics in surrounding villages in the region, usually at churches or schools. I am about to return in July for a fourth time. It is discouraging to see how little medical care there is for villagers but it is inspiring to see what impact each trip has had on the communities we have helped. This is strictly "starfish stuff". We are making a difference for individuals. However Dr. Mutono also has a development fund and is working to encourage economic development in the region which can eliminate the need for Mercy Trips in this place. Of course there will always be others places that need this service. I like the idea that while Mercy Trips is meeting immediate needs that we are also participating in a bigger plan of economic development. The problems of eastern Uganda are challenging but with enough groups like Mercy Trips and native Ugandans like Patrick things can really change for this region in the next twenty to thirty years. (Yes it is a slow process but worth being a part of.)
I have been on two Medical/Missionary trips with Mercy Trips Healthcare Outreach and will be going again in July....As a RN and a Surgical Nurse, I am amazed at the healthcare they have been able to provide with the minimal amount of supplies they have to work with. Use to working in a well equipped OR, needless to say I was a little taken back when I arrived the first year to encounter an OR that had the bare necessities. Having worked for over 30 years in an OR it was the first time I had ever seen a "bellow" ether machine, used for giving anesthesia. The healthcare providers do a amazing job with the equipment they have to work with. Mercy Trips is well organized with experienced personnel and organizers who are always willing to learn and improve the way things are done and make things more productive while utilizing the items available.
Mercy Trips is a unique outreach for me personally. First, it is medically oriented. (I am a physical therapist.) Second, it reaches out to a severely underserved area of eastern Uganda where people largely have to go without surgical services apart from this outreach. And third, it enables me to have a small part in helping my friend Dr. Daniel use his and others' medical gifts in third world areas.
Mercy Trips is a caring, giving, dependable nonprofit medical mission trip. My husband has participated with an annual trip for the last 3 years, and I was able to join him for the last trip. Words cannot fully describe the experience and the impact I feel was possible with this organization. With Dr. Patrick Mutono, who currently works in Uganda, as a key contact and also founder of the organization, our trips truly have a chance to reach those most at need with an already well established system. A surgical group works in the operating suites, while clinical groups head to different villages each day with a traveling pharmacy. Members of Dr. Mutono's team, including pharmacists and physicians assistants help the team to function smoothly and interact with the local villages. It has been a pleasure to serve with this team and I look forward to our next trip together!
I am the founding board member of Mercy Trips Healthcare Outreach. We began taking small teams of healthcare providers to eastern Uganda to support the efforts of Dr. Patrick Mutono with Lodoi Development Fund in the Pallisa District west of the city of Mbale. We performed surgical procedures at a rural hospital in the village of Kanginima and medical outreach clinics in rural villages in the surrounding area. In 2006 we formed Mercy Trips in order to facilitate the growth of the teams and their impact.