I will be one of the anesthesiologists on a one week surgical mission trip to Antigua, Guatemala with members of Team Broken Earth Barrie in November 2023. This will be my sixth mission trip with Team Broken Earth. I've been to Port-au-Prince, Haiti three times and to Guatemala City, Guatemala twice.

Our patients will mainly be members of the indigenous Mayan population of Guatemala. Most will come from remote rural areas of the country, often hundreds of kilometres away. They will undergo orthopedic, gynecologic, general surgical, and dental procedures that they would otherwise not be able to access. These are prodedures that we, here at home, take for granted, but for many of these Guatemalans, these will be life-changing prodedures what will help them to return to a physical status that allows them to work and provide for their families without pain or disability. For me, my most memorable experiences on these trips are the expressions of gratitude that we get from these patients.

Our team of over 30 people will include surgeons, anesthesiologists, nurses, anesthesia assistants, dentists, and support staff. Travelling to Guatemala with enough supplies and drugs to run four operating rooms and a dental clinic for a week is a very large undertaking which requires vast resources and funds.

On a personal note, I'm once again thrilled that my son Dr. Elliott Yee, who is a resident in General Surgery at the University of Toronto, will be joining our team for his second mission trip to Guatemala. Like me, Elliott has an interest in global health, and he hopes to make surgery in low and middle income countries a part of his General Surgery career.

I've created my own fundraising page to collect donations in support of this effort. I hope I can count on your support to reach my fundraising goal of $2700. Just click "Sponsor Me" to make a donation. If you would also like to support Elliott on this mission to Guatemala, contact him at e.yee@hotmail.com for details on how you can do this.

Thank you in advance for your generosity!