From providing hundreds of wheelchairs and mobility devices in Peru and Belize to sight-saving surgeries in Ghana and a donation of medical equipment for eye health in Guatemala, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many times working with local organizations, is helping to provide medical aid and services.
Following are recent ways the Church has provided medical aid and services in several countries, including Ghana, the Philippines, Belize, Peru, Ecuador and Guatemala.
Sight-saving surgeries in Ghana
The Daybreak Vision Project is a nonprofit organization that assists individuals with sight-saving cataract surgeries. Since its beginnings it has provided care and surgeries to countless individuals in Ghana.
The Church collaborated with Daybreak on May 3 on an outreach event in Wa, Ghana, assisting over 500 Ghanaians, including children, with sight-restoring cataract surgeries, reported the Church’s Ghana Newsroom. The Church also provided funding to help increase public awareness about cataract blindness and the impact cataract surgeries can have for people.
Marian Esiape, welfare and self-reliance director for the Church’s Africa West Area, was present at the event.
“The Church is under divine mandate to care for the poor and the needy,” Esiape said. “Our focus is to collaborate with other humanitarian organizations to create a better life for the people of West Africa.”
Spreading happiness in the Philippines
Through an organized medical screening put on by the welfare and self-reliance group of the Malolos Philippines Stake, 361 people received free diagnostic services for conditions including cleft lip and lip palate, clubfoot, amputated limbs, eye and vision problems, reported the Philippines Newsroom.
These diagnostic services took place on May 11, at the Malolos Philippines Stake Center.
April Adao, the Malolos Stake’s welfare and self-reliance specialist, said, “We were inspired to organize it [the medical screening] because offering humanitarian services has always been a part of the [welfare and self-reliance] program of the Church of Jesus Christ intended to aid the community and provide relief to those who are in need.”
The Malolos Stake worked with other organizations, helping 361 individuals receive care, including the Mabuhay Deseret Foundation, Resources for the Blind Inc., The Alibata Project, Malolos City Vice Mayor’s Office and the Malolos City Health Office.
One recipient told Adao, “I did not know that I could be deserving of feeling such happiness.”
Wheelchairs in Belize and Peru
The Church collaborated with Red Cross personnel to donate wheelchairs and other mobility devices to 365 people in Belize, reported the Church Belize Newsroom.
The event began with a weeklong training for volunteers — from Monday, May 8, to Friday, May 12. The donations were given on May 17.
During the event, donations consisted of 349 wheelchairs of different models, repair kits and other mobility devices including adult walkers, crutches and canes.
A similar event took place in Lima, Peru, on June 10. Working with the National Institute of Rehabilitation, Church officials and institute personnel trained volunteers prior to the donation ceremony, reported the Church’s Peru Newsroom.
The donations included 89 standard wheelchairs, 99 cross-terrain wheelchairs, 60 neurological support wheelchairs, 33 pediatric wheelchairs and 30 stroller-type wheelchairs.
Improving life in Ecuador
On June 9, the Church donated supplies to the San José board of trustees in Carapungo, Ecuador. Donations included psychomotor kits, food and supplies for making chairs for its facilities, reported the Church’s Ecuador Newsroom.
The beneficiaries are people with disabilities who are living in poverty or abandonment, or who are at risk of dependency because of their disability.
Quito Ecuador Colón Stake President Juan G. Tenen Donoso said: “The donations that you see here are thanks to the faithful members, who through obedience to tithes and fast offerings make it possible to help those who need most in any part of the world.”
Also present at the donation event was María Victoria Orbe, representative of the disabilities program of the Metropolitan District of Quito.
“We gladly receive this donation from the Church,” she said. “Not all of us can carry out these types of actions that go beyond the human moral part, but from the heart since they allow us to improve the quality of life of other people who need it.”
Eye equipment donated in Guatemala
The Family Hospital Ophthalmology Center in Nuevo Progreso Department of San Marcos, Guatemala, assists more than 2,000 patients with visual difficulties, reported the Church’s Guatemala Newsroom.
On May 15, the Church donated an ophthalmic microscope and other instruments to the hospital. Although seemingly small, these donations will have an impact on the hospital’s ability to perform surgical procedures, treat injuries and perform retinal surgeries for many patients.
Andy Sorenson, leader of the ophthalmology team at the hospital, expressed gratitude for the donations.
