Community Health
Helping prevent and treat disease, promoting healthy lifestyles, while also encouraging patients to take charge of their own health
Services are provided free of charge to those in need. This is integral to our mission of improving opportunities for sponsored students, their families, and the surrounding communities. When children and adults have basic health care needs met, the entire community does better.
We partner with local leadership, churches, and volunteers to reach remote areas. First we identify persons or families in need. Then we provide comprehensive care that meets the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the patients.
80+
medical brigades since 2013
1,500+
water filters distributed
10+
cement floors every year
12,000
lbs in nutritional baskets each year
The need
The San Matías area is remote and the terrain makes it hard to get around from village to village. It is also underserved when it comes to healthcare.
Although there is a public medical clinic in the area, it is open from time to time on weekdays. In this public clinic there is no medicine available other than acetaminophen to treat all kind of diseases, and no emergencies can be treated properly.
Healthcare services we provide
Mobile medical clinics
Brigades visiting communities providing medical attention and medicine free of charge
Dental clinic
The first local clinic that brings dental care closer and makes it affordable
Eye clinic
An eye brigade that helps children and seniors overcome difficulties with their sight
Water filters distribution
In the rural areas of Honduras, to have clean water at home is a wonderful blessing
Health education
Children need to know what a healthy lifestyle means to them and their future
Cement floors
Having a concrete slab floor instead of dirt reduces the risks of stomach and skin illness to young and old
Nutritional baskets
Fantastic way to reach out the community to nurture their bodies and spirits with food and the Gospel
Ultrasounds for prenatal care
Helping women in the prenatal stages of motherhood
Through significant partnerships with many organizations and churches, MDM has been able to organize and deploy numerous medical brigades every year, providing access to consultations, treatments and medicines.
Operation New Life has been a key ministry partner over the years, recruiting medical professionals, funding mission trips, providing invaluable resources and equipment, and performing countless surgeries and treatments at Hospital Escuela in Tegucigalpa.
ONL teams usually visit the San Matías area just to visit homes and spend time with the students. Their mission has been at the Hospital where they reach people from the all central-southern and eastern regions of Honduras.
4 ways you can improve community health in the San Matías area:
Dental clinic
Dental care is at the top of MDM’s health planning. However, for most families, it’s at the bottom of their priority list. Low incomes guarantee that they do not have the funds to pay for it.
Even if they could pay for dental care, there’s not local dental clinic (public or private).
The only option would then be for families to travel to Tegucigalpa for check-ups and treatments. That alone makes it harder and unsustainable in the long run.
Our goal is to establish a well-equipped dental facility, offering common services like:
- Preventive care
- Fillings and Bonding
- Restorations
- Extractions
- Dentures
Your contribution will help us open the clinic to offer free dental care to all our sponsored students and their families; as well as affordable treatments to the rest of the community.
Clean water
Untreated water can carry many disease-causing organisms. This is a serious problem in the San Matias area. Results are malnutrition, poor school performance, and high demand for health care services and medication.
Fortunately there are simple solutions:
- Proper containers for water
- Easy to use water filtration systems
Together these 2 simple items help ensure that inhabitants in the area have clean water for drinking and cooking.
Your donation today will help us distribute more water filters and show people how to use them to make sure they have safe water. And healthier children.
Nutrition baskets
Food baskets have become a fantastic way to reach out to the community. The basket helps with their nutrition, while also sharing the Gospel.
Again and again we witness how both the message and the food arrived at the time when it was most needed.
With a $40 contribution, you can provide nutritional food for a family of 4 for 15 days, along with a biblical message of hope and encouragement.
Medical teams
Each year we partner with US hospitals, churches, and individuals, to put together medical mission teams to provide medical treatments in the San Matías area.
Teams consist of U.S. and local physicians, nurses, and supporters. Together they perform consultations and deliver medicines free of charge.
Common health issues in the area are high blood pressure, diabetes, stomach issues, and seasonal diseases such as flu and dengue fever.
Get more information about mission teams and medical teams.
Latest Community Health Posts
Clean water for more families and healthier children
“Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.”
Matthew 25:40 NIV