A team of medical professionals from Texas is in Belize holding a free medical clinic. We stopped by the ITVET compound where they set up operations and spoke to the head doctor in charge. Jomarie Lanza has this story.
The House on the Rock Medical Mission is here from Dallas, Texas, offering free basic medical check-ups in Belize City. We met the team at the ITVET compound today and spoke to the group leader about some of the services they are offering:
Dr. Simi, House on the Rock Medical Mission
"So today we have a group of doctors that will be here to do a physical exam. That means we are going to be checking your blood pressure, we are going to be checking your blood sugar. If your blood sugar is higher than the setting parameters that are set, we will be checking your A1C, we will be screening for kidney disease, for diabetes, and so we are going to do your urine analysis. We will also-we have the pharmacy section, and we are also going to make sure that, needed, if you get some medication that we will be giving. We are also going to be doing EKG, maybe if people come with chest pain or just an abnormal blood pressure reading, we want to look at your heart and just make sure everything is alright. And not just that, we have physical things that we will be giving out, like clothing, some school supplies, shoes-as much as we are able to give. We are just here to show love."
Their contingent is made up of 2 medical doctors, nurses, volunteers, and a pharmacist. Dr. Simi says they expect to service at least 2,000 patients today, and we spoke to one of them after he got his check-up:
Kieran Samuels, Received Check-up
"It is very reliable based on what I have just experienced. The people are very welcoming and, apart from that, I wouldn't say they did an extensive medical examination, but they did the basics, you know, so."
"I think it depends on the social status of where you are, because if we be realistic, this is more geared towards the poor people, because then now it helps the poor class to see a doctor, because majority of them are unable to, so it helps the lower class."
This is the first time the team is in Belize, and Dr. Simi told us they will continue to travel to other countries to deliver services.
Dr. Simi, House on the Rock Medical Mission
"So our sister church in San Antonio has been doing this for over 10 years and that is why-so we also do locally in the US every month. Every month in the US we go to places we feel that need it, like different apartments and communities, and we do that every month, every third Saturday of the month. [00:05:05.04] [00:04:17.00] So last year we were in Mexico, this year we are in Belize, next year we will be in Africa, so we go continent by continent. We just pray about it, and wherever the Lord asks us to go, we go. The Lord asked us to come to Belize; we have never been here, but something just said, "Belize, Belize," and we kept hearing, "Belize, Belize," and that is why we came."
