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Student Life
Service and Mission
SPIRITUAL FORMATION
MidAmerica Nazarene University
Weatherby Chapel
2030 East College Way
Olathe, KS 66062-1899
Office Hours
Mon. – Fri. 8:00am – 5:00pm
- 913-971-3651
- Spiritual Life Office
- Go Global Office
The Guatemala Project
Amount Raised by the MNU Community: $72,200
MidAmerica Nazarene University surpassed its goal to raise $50,000 for the building of a health clinic and educational center in Patanatic, Guatemala. This endeavor, which began in the spring of 2009, is known as ‘Project IF’ and consists of a partnership with Heart to Heart International, Engineers without Borders, Rotary International, and the local community of Patanatic.
MNU sent four volunteer teams, comprised of 39 students and staff, to Patanatic to aid in clinic construction, water filtration installation (WASH Program), and Heart to Heart’s de-worming campaign. An additional $70,200 has been raised by these MNU volunteer teams to provide on-site support and fund additional projects.
Additional Guatemala Stats
Number of Participants: 39
Amount Raised by Each Participant: $1,800.00
Total Raised by Team: $72,000.00
Length of Trip(s): March 12-21, 2010 (10 days), May 5-13, 2010 (9 days), June 6-13, 2010 (8 days); Total: 27 days, average of 8 hours per day
Rate of Volunteer Time: $21.36
Value* of Volunteer Time per Hour: $179,936.64
(27 days x 8 hours x $21.36 = $4,613.76; $4,613.76 x 39 participants = $179,936.64)
*The value of volunteer time is calculated through Independent Sector.
Background on Health Clinic
In cooperation with Heart to Heart International’s WASH program and the community of Patanatic, Guatemala, MNU raised $50,000 this year to buy materials for a much needed health clinic. The clinic is in the process of being built by professional workers and volunteers from the community of Patanatic. This is a partnership MNU seeks to reproduce in other communities around the world.
MNU proposed this formula, if 1,000 faculty, staff, and students each donated $25 per semester, giving only $2 a week, at the end of this current school year $50,000 has been raised! The campus collected money during Tuesday chapel services (nicknamed “Twosdays”), selling t-shirts with the campaign theme “iF”, and looking to individual donors and creativity from students as to how to raise the funds.
Further, MidAmerica sent three teams of students and staff in 2010 to help the community in erecting the new health clinic. Team one was sent in March, then two more were sent in May and June of 2010.
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 which, the community will be able to sustain the clinic using their own doctors, nurses, and midwives.
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.
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. There goal is to have the clinic be entirely self-sustaining within twenty years, after the lease on the land ends.
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 disaster.
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. They will operate under the same models and principles.