The passion for what we do at Compassion Medicine started with a trip to Guatemala one summer on a missions trip. Several members of the Jones family (founders of Compassion Medicine), along with several medical professionals and teenage volunteers were on a venture to make a difference in other’s lives. Although other’s lives were dramatically changed, we soon found out that our lives were changed as well. What we saw was a beautiful country with beautiful people living in deep poverty and anxious to make us feel at home. As we toured the country, pastors and missionaries showed us the many needs that existed but also the love that the people had to share. With no shoes on their feet and smiles on their faces, we began to realize that we were among some special people who were going to make a big impact on our lives. We saw tremendous medical needs that were not met. In many of the rural, mountainous areas where the beautiful Mayan people live, there were no clinics, no hospitals, and there appeared to be no hope of getting the help they needed.
What we saw next changed everything …… a 10 year old girl who would not make contact with anyone. She was beautiful, she was shy, and she was bullied. Her classmates teased her because her eyes were different. They were very red with visible “clumps” in them, and her vision was poor. After medical evaluation, we were told that she would go blind if she did not receive the surgery she needed. Her eyes were full of tumors. With the right surgeon, they could be successfully removed and her vision restored. No one in Guatemala, we were told, could perform the surgery that was needed. This is how Compassion Medicine started. Our mission was to get her to the states for the surgery she needed. We did…..and the surgery was successful. She is now a very active, happy girl with her confidence restored and hope for her future. This was the beginning of our mission to reach out to children around the world from poverty-stricken third-world countries that suffer from serious, debilitating, painful, or disfiguring medical conditions and help them gain access to world-class medical care in the United States. The goal is to improve their health, bring hope to their lives, and put smiles on their faces. This is accomplished at no charge to the children or their families.
Click below to see examples of medical conditions treated and our partners.
