PLANNING: TEAM TO GUATEMALA

FTC Canada is currently in Guatemala, where plans are being made for the next Medical-Dental team.

The team will land in Guatemala in early November.  You can learn more about the work at our website (click here) or follow the team's daily activities at this blog.

FTC Canada Medical Team Advisor, Dr. Anthony Brown is scouting out locations for the next team.  Joining him in this process, is FTC Canada President Ken Dick.  Selecting a good location means first meeting the needs of the community where we will serve.  Meeting local officials and community leaders is an important part of planning.

Sites must support the "portable" team; allowing room for a pharmacy, food and supplies, and of course doctor and dental areas.  The later two require waiting space, room for practitioners, assistants and if required translators to see patients and private areas that allows for discreet interviews and minor surgeries.

There will be 5 locations chosen, all within reach of Guatemala City.  This is a region we have been in before, so there is a good chance we will be making a return visit to sites we have previously served.

HAITI FUNDRAISER: DINNER PROGRAM

We are looking forward to the Haiti Fundraiser coming up on September 24, 2010 in Burlington, ON.  Tickets are still available for this special evening gathering.

The evening program looks like it will provide a great deal of insight into Haiti:

Program:
Doors Open ~ 6:00 PM
Dinner ~ 7:00 PM
Speakers for the evening

~ Paramedic Grant Rumford - Mr Rumford, was stationed at Mission of Hope in Haiti when the earthquate struck.
~ Dr. Anthony Brown, FTC Canada Medical Advisor - Dr. Brown will talk about the FTC Canada Emergency Team that was sent to Haiti 8 days after the quake.
~ Otis Garrison, VP Mission of Hope Haiti - Mr. Garrixon will share his thoughts on the future of Haiti

HAITI FUNDRAISING DINNER
BURLINGTON CONVENTION CENTRE
SEPTEMBER 24, 2010, 7:00 PM
DOORS OPEN: 6:00 PM

Please click Purchase Tickets to go to the ticket Ticket Page.

BUS TO HAITI FROM FTC CANADA

A bus bound for Haiti was loaded onto a flatbed transport in the work yard of local trucking company MacKinnon Transport Inc.  From Guelph the load will head south to sunny Florida to board a boat for the journey to Port au Prince.

Times for all these events to occur become harder to predict the closer the bus gets to Haiti.  Transport schedules are fairly predictable from Canada to the boat, but once in the port in Florida other factors come into play.  Certainly getting a boat into the earthquake damaged port of Port au Prince comes with its own set of challenges.

Once on terra firma, the bus will journey about 45 minutes to the Mission of Hope (MOH) compound.  MOH is a partner NGO of FTC Canada and home to a school, feeding centre, hospital and emergency clinic.  FTC Canada sent an ambulance to MOH just prior to the devastating earthquake of January 12, 2010.

Thank you to MacKinnon Transport and to the generous people helping to financially support the transport of this bus to Haiti.  Donations are still required to transport containers of supplies to Haiti and to rebuild homes.  Please give generously to FTC Canada as our work there continues.  If you or your business would like to raise money for programs or projects in Haiti, please call 1.877.382.2262.

HAITI FUNDRAISER: SPEAKER ANNOUNCED

On September 24, 2010, Paramedic Grant Rumford will take us on a journey to the very heart of Haiti.

FTC Canada sent Grant Rumford to Haiti to work with partner NGO, Mission of Hope. In May 2009 Grant decided to take a leave from the Halton Paramedic Service. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for his whole family and a chance for Grant to provide leadership for the emergency services at the Hospital of Hope.

At the FTC Canada Haiti Fundraiser you will hear all about Haiti One, the ambulance that would eventually make it's way to Haiti and play a key role in a time of crisis. You will learn about how the earthquake on January 12, 2010 changed so many lives and thrust Grant headlong into the epicenter of the disaster.

FTC Canada sent an emergency medical team to Haiti just 8 days after the quake struck Port au Prince. This was an unexpected surprise for Grant and a huge boost of confidence as he had his "crew" from Halton working alongside him in the battle to save lives!

You will not want to miss this event:

HAITI FUNDRAISING DINNER
BURLINGTON CONVENTION CENTRE
SEPTEMBER 24, 2010, 7:00 PM
DOORS OPEN: 6:00

Tickets: $50 per ticket, $400 per table of 8
Please click HERE to go to the Haiti Fundraiser page to purchase tickets.

HAITI FUNDRAISER

Like no other time in history there is a loss of hope in Haiti. FTC Canada is there to help restore and rebuild that hope for without it there is no future.

Please join us on September 24, 2010 for an event that will serve to remind you that supporting and caring for your brothers and sisters in Haiti has really just begun.

HAITI FUNDRAISING DINNER
BURLINGTON CONVENTION CENTRE
SEPTEMBER 24, 2010, 7:00 PM
DOORS OPEN: 6:00

Tickets: $50 per ticket, $400 per table of 8

Please click HERE to go to the Haiti Fundraiser page to purchase tickets.

PAKISTAN: FLOOD DISASTER

Please give to FTC Canada to help families in Pakistan cope with the flood.

MEDICAL-DENTAL: TEAM TO GUATEMALA

I can always be sure when returning from a Medical-Dental Team excursion, that I will be asked several times, “When is the next trip and where is it going?”. Because of the preparation time required, we are careful to leave sufficient time between travels to Central America. My answer in February, as we returned from El Salvador was, “Sometime later in the year”!

Dr. Tony Brown (Medical Advisor) and I had to make two major decisions. One, where do we go next, and two, when do we go? It did not take long to decide we should return to Guatemala. Why Guatemala?

The medical/dental needs in Central America are everywhere and unlimited opportunities to share our expertise are welcomed in several countries. Since 2007 we have taken teams to Honduras, Guatemala (2008), Nicaragua and El Salvador. In making the decision to return to Guatemala we talked to the people who partner with us in that country, reviewed recent events that have impacted the people there, including floods and earthquakes and looked carefully at the current political situation and safety factors. There was nothing to keep us from going to Guatemala and plans are under way for a team to be there November 6-14, 2010.

We are often asked if we have problems finding people for the team? No is the short answer. Since our first team to Honduras in 2007, our roster of medical professionals and other support staff has been growing. Our largest team, 30 strong, went to El Salvador in February 2010. This we have discovered, is a level at which we can operate efficiently.

Dr. Tony and I will be visiting Guatemala at the end of September to visit communities where the teams may visit and scout out suitable locations to run our clinics.

If you are a medical professional and would like to get involved please contact me at ken@ftccanada.ca. By the way, there's a good chance we may be in El Salvador, April, 2011.

Ken Dick, President