MNU’s Student-led "Passion to Serve" Project Surpasses $50,000 goal in less than a year

MNU’s “What If” campaign was based on the premise that “if” the  1,000 faculty, staff, and students each donated $25 per semester, giving only $2 a week, than at the end of the current school year the amount raised would total more than. $50,000. They were right.

The MNU campus community surpassed its goal of raising $50,000 for the construction of a health clinic in rural Guatemala, which will be operated by Heart to Heart International. Donations at the April 16 MNU Chapel service totaled $10,525.50, which resulted in a total amount raised in the 2009-10 academic year of $50,612.77. Subsequent donations have pushed the total donation to Heart to Heart to more than $52,000.

The groundbreaking for the clinic’s construction was Jan. 31, 2010, and the completion of the construction funds ensures the clinic will be operational according to the project’s timetable. Other partnerships in the project included Rotary International and Engineers Without Borders (Kansas City Chapter).

A campus event celebrated the event Tuesday, April 27, on the campus mall area at MidAmerica Nazarene University.

In attendance at the event were Jon North, CEO of Heart to Heart International, Dr. Ed Robinson, President of MNU, Randy Beckum, Vice President of MNU Community Formation, and Jorge Coromac, Heart to Heart program officer and Guatemala native. The MNU Gospel Choir and Musica Latina performed.

Also revealed at the ceremony was MNU’s 2011 “Passion to Serve” project, which is the construction of an orphanage in Kenya.

Teams leave May 5 for the first of two summer trips to the clinic site.

Hear from current students the story behind the Guatemala clinic, and how the idea sprang up into almost reaching the goal of raising $50,000 to build this clinic...

Background for the Guatemala Clinic Project

In cooperation with Heart to Heart International's WASH program and the community of Patanatic, Guatemala, MNU set a goal of raising $50,000 this in the 2009-10 academic year to buy materials for a much needed health clinic. The clinic  is set to be built by professional workers and volunteers from the community of Patanatic, Guatemala.

This is a partnership MNU seeks to reproduce in other communities around the world.

The “What If” campaign was based on the premise that  “if” the  1,000 faculty, staff, and students each donated $25 per semester, giving only $2 a week, than at the end of the current school year the amount raised would total more than. $50,000. The campus collected money during Tuesday chapel services (nicknamed "Twos-days"), selling T-shirts with the campaign theme "IF", and looking to individual donors and creativity from students as to how to raise the funds.

MidAmerica agreed to send three teams of students and staff in 2010 to help the community in erecting the new health clinic. Teams will be sent in March, May, and June.

A Preview of the Clinic

Land

In June 2009, the village of Patanatic approached Heart to Heart and offered to donate the land. The land will have a 20-year lease. After that term, the community will be able to sustain the clinic using their own doctors, nurses, and midwives.

Supplies

Clinic Construction
Heart to Heart has partnered with MNU campus to raise $50,000 in building and construction costs.

Hospital Equipment
All equipment and supplies has been donated by notable medical companies including Johnson & Johnson and Welch-Allyn.

Labor

Construction Work
Patanatic has secured 900 local volunteers for the building of the clinic, this is one for each family in the community. Sixty are skilled workers and will help supervise and direct the volunteers. Furthermore, Heart to Heart has a partnership a U.S. organization called Engineers Without Borders who are in the process of collaborating with schools and city councils to map out neighborhoods in an effort to improve bathroom facilities and create a sewage system for the community.

Medical Staff
Initially, Heart to Heart will hire a part-time doctor, social worker, and dentist, and will still rely on its consistent U.S. volunteers to help run the clinic. Heart to Heart is in the planning stages of providing scholarships for students in that community to be trained and serve in their home region. The  goal is to have the clinic be entirely self-sustaining within 20 years, after the lease on the land ends.

The Health Clinic Building

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First Floor: The first floor of the clinic will be complete with pharmacy, laboratory, X-ray room, dentistry room, midwife room, and three overnight patient rooms.

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Second Floor: The second level will house up to twenty Heart to Heart short-term volunteers. It is complete with conference room and living quarters, which include a kitchen, bath facilities, and laundry.

Rooftop:
The rooftop will have garden which provides medicinal plants and herbs. It will serve also as a leisure area and parking for the clinic's ambulance. Solar panels will supply power to the clinic allowing it to continue operating in the situation of a natural diaster.

The clinic has a partnership with the only other hospital (located several hours away) to ensure that the entire region has healthcare and the same education opportunities. The will operate under the same models and principles.

Heart to Heart Medical Pledges

Seven schools in the Solola region, found in the southwestern part of the country, have been selected to have their students receive the following services:

• Full health assessments and medical tracking
• Hand washing and hygiene education
• Anit-parcidic medication
• Opportunity to have stool sample tested
• Temporary water filers for each home

• Bio-sand filters for each school (lasting 20-25 years)

April 21, 2010: Goal is Achieved - $50,621.77

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