Excerpt from a City of Edmonton Update
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Donna Gray with CAMTA in Ecuador
Our colleague Donna Gray has just returned from an eye-opening and inspirational volunteering trip to Ecuador with CAMTA – the Canadian Association of Medical Teams Abroad. CAMTA is an Edmonton-based organization, founded to provide orthopedic surgeries to low-income pediatric and adult patients in Ecuador. Every year, CAMTA sends volunteer group s for two weeks , performing 4-6 orthopedic surgeries a day. Many of the surgeries include treatment of club foot, hip replacements, releasing of tendons in people suffering from Cerebral Palsy, hip repairs due to injuries and hip dysplasia, a birth defect which can cripple a person by the age of 30. The teams include an array of orthopedic surgeons , O.R. and recovery nurses and other medical and non-medical staff like lay people who help with translating, blogging, inventory control and cleaning of surgical instruments.
Donna joined this year’s volunteer team as a blogger. Her 12-hour days included interviewing the patients and their families and relaying their stories through CAMTA’s blog. She also got to profile the medical teams and cover the surgeries they were doing. Sharing stories through the blog is important to help spread the word about CAMTA and garner support for the organization. In order to participate, Donna and the other volunteers not only donate their time and skills, they raise the funds necessary to cover their own travel and living expenses . Any funds raise d above that amount helps to pay for medical and surgical supplies and equipment needed for the mission.
Donna admits that the days were long and conditions challenging, however, witnessing life-changing stories constantly uplifted her and the other volunteers, as well as the perseverance and strong will that each patient displayed: “My experience with CAMTA was extremely rewarding and it was a joy getting to know the Ecuadorian people. I feel very fortunate to have shared my time with the community, witnessing their sheer gratitude and tears of joy for receiving CAMTA's help, despite their everyday reality and the personal struggles they face, made all the more difficult by years or orthopedic ailments. I’ll only have to think back to this experience to know what real hardship and struggle is. I’ve also made new life-long friends, many of whom I have already met up with since returning from our time together in Ecuador. Thank you to my colleagues who generously backed me through sponsorship and letters of reference it warms my heart to feel supported by people I work with. ”
I’d like to congratulate Donna for taking part in such a worthwhile trip and sharing her experience with us. If anyone is interested in volunteering, donating or learning more about CAMTA, you can visit their website: www.camta.com.