Dear Friend,

I am participating in another medical relief and education trip with Team Broken Earth Ottawa. 

First of all, many thanks once again for making our trips a possibility! Our trips are funded entirely by your donations. Your donations pay for everything we offer the patients listed below:

- Surgical equipment, instruments, and implants

- Medications for their Anesthesia and postoperative pain

- Hospital expenses related to their admissions and perioperative care

- Plane tickets & Accomodation for the team

Team Broken Earth is a volunteer-driven registered medical charity. We are doctors, nurses, and specialized healthcare professionals from around the world who join together for week-long medical missions to offer critical health services to the people who need them the most.  Our goal is to deliver medical care to these patients while also collaborating with local Health Care Professionals to share experience, knowledge and foster relationships that enrich all parties involved.

Provision of medical services to underserved populations in rural settings has been a passion of mine for many years.  Prior to attending medical school I volunteered for three months in a medical clinic in Elsie's River, South Africa, in 2005.  Then as a medical student in Adelaide, South Australia, I enrolled for as many rural rotations as I could and arranged my elective rotations in rural communities in Ontario.

Since connecting with Team Broken Earth I have participated in a number of one week medical relief trips including:

  -  Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2017 - Surgical focus)

  -  Port-au-Prince, Haiti (2019 - Surgical focus)

  -  San Juan, Dominican Republic (2023 - Surgical focus)

  -  Duquesa, Dominican Republic (2024 - Primary Care focus)

  -  San Juan, Dominican Republic (upcoming November 2024 - Surgical focus)

Unfortunately it has become apparent that returning to Haiti will not be safe for the foreseeable future.  As a result our organization has been looking for other locations to deploy our teams.

In November 2023 our TBE Ottawa team was the first team from our organization to travel to the Dominican Republic.  We were able to do 25 surgeries for patients who had sustained broken bones, or other life-threatening injuries, and didn't have access to emergent medical care. 

Then in May 2024 I joined a Primary Care team from Rush University Chicago that provided medical relief to the community in Duquesa, Dominican Republic. The majority of the people living in Duquesa are Haitian migrants and their descendents.  None of these individuals are Dominican citizens and they have no access to any form of medical care. The Duquesa Slums are located adjacent to the largest open-air landfill in Latin America (and fifth largest landfill in the world).  It was visible (and smell-able) from the clinic we were working at. Our team provided life changing care to over 500 patients.

In November 2024 we will be returning with another Surgical Team to San Juan. We are excited to add Plastic Surgery interventions for cleft lips and palates to the Orthopedic services we provided last time. We are also hoping to do twice as many surgeries as last year after what we learned about the processes and facilities from our last trip.

I am also connecting with other Team Broken Earth teams across Canada such that we can provide regular, and frequent, Primary Care services to Duquesa and other communities in need throughout the Dominican Republic. I anticipate leading further teams to this community, collaborating with other Primary Care clinics in Kemptville and Kemptville District Hospital.

Please help us to reach our fundraising goals. Just click "Sponsor Me" to make a donation online. You will automatically receive a tax receipt electronically for your donation.

Thank you in advance for your generosity,

Dan