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A team of Port Perry area medical professionals have just returned from a humanitar- ian mission to Guatemala where they treated upwards of 1,000 people in remote villages over a five day period. In an interview before the team left on February 23, Drs. Steve Russell and Jack Cottrell spoke about the mission, which is organized under the auspices of Feed The Children Foundation of Canada. Nine of the 20 member team come from Port Perry, led by Dr. Tony and Sue Brown, who journeyed to the Hon- luras on a similar abeth and Steve Russell, Dr. Jack Cottrell, hygienist Michelle Cottrell, nurses Anna Jew- ell and Charlene Dart, and pharma- cist Chris Ritskes. This is the sec- ond consecutive year that the Browns and Russells have provided their services to Central America, having worked last year with a team of 15 health Peon, five from Port Per Following up on this very success- ful trip, Dr. Brown recognized there was a desperate need for dental treatment in Cen- tral Amercia, so he initiated the assistance of local dentist Dr. Jack Cottrell to organize and provide a dental program. “With his help, we are moving into dental for the first time,” Dr. Brown explains. One of the largest undertakings for Dr. Cottrell’s team was to assemble the large amount of resources which they would re- quire. But over the past year, through do- nations and personal contributions they amassed more than $60,000 worth of state- of-the-art dental supplies and equipment. With all of the equipment shipped ahead, the team set out two weeks ago for Guatema- la City, where the group is headquartered. It’s from this location the team, supplies and equipment were transported into five remote villages over the next week. “We have enough equipment to set up two full operatories, including dental chairs steri- lizing equipment and generators for power, food and lighting,” Dr. Cottrell explained. Even in the remotest of areas, the team claims they can erect a tent and be up and running within an hour. Some of the services they will be providing include minor sur- gery, vitamin therapy, dental care, treatment for parasites, worms and lice, and the use of antibiotics. Many of the prob- lems these very poor families encounter is due to the lack of clean water, and in at least one village a new water well will be drilled to provide clean pure Deemer water for the vil- lage. In each village, patients will be put through a screening process and medical assessment to deter- mine the needs and appropriate treatment. for family members. In ad- dition to medical treatment they will also distribute cloth- ing, toys and blankets. Dr. Cottrell feels that one of the worst things outsiders can dois “invade a community” for one day, then just leave. To help maintain services, they had doctors and dentists from Guatemala working along with them, learning new techniques and pro- cedures they may not have had exposure to in the past. Dr. Brown is quick to point out that while Please turn to page 10 Port Perry's Guatemala team huddled together for a picture before heading off on their Russell, Dr. Steve Russell, Chris Ritskes, Michelle Cottrell, Dr. Jack Cottrell, Charlene Dart and Sue aay Absent, Anna Jewell. website: www.focusonscugog.com bottom, Dr. Tony Brown, Dr. Elizabeth Photo by J. Peter Hvidsten FOCUS - MARCH 2008 3