International Health Services News Update
 
Hi Everyone,
 
Great news ! The October 2009 and February 2010 IHS medical trips are a go.
Thursday night we had an IHS board meeting and after discussing many topics we
are proceeding with all Honduras medical projects as usual.
 
One thing we noticed is we are in critical need of doctors, nurses and other
medical folks! Applications for the Feb, 2010 mission have started coming in
but so far we have only one doctor and two nurses signed up.  Please
consider going AND talking with other medical folks to see if they can go,
too.  Bring your spouse, too.  The Feb, 2010 mission will be very similar to
last Feb’s trip. Note the attached 2009 Team Map does an excellent job of
showing the details of the trip.
 
Other Important Info Items:

If you are planning to go, please get your application in as soon as possible.
Applications are also online (www.ihsofmn.org) and in the NewsBreak, which will
be out soon. The October team is pretty well set to go so I am talking about the
Feb, 2010 mission.
 
Talk to friends If you know of anyone who may have an interest in going, please
talk with them soon as we always need new people to fill open spots on the
teams. As always, at this time of the year we need people in all medical
professions and support/helper positions. As the map shows, we also take
doctors, nurses, pharmacists, surgery folks, optometrists & eye care folks, plus
many support/helper people. Many people go with spouses and friends.
Besides staffing our medical teams, we are looking for optometrists & eye care
people as the need for eye care is great in Honduras and we wish to continue to
improve our eye glasses teams.
To save on costs this year, as positions fill we will not be taking extra help
in any positions. A waiting list will be created if needed.
 
Honduras - Elections for the new Honduran President will be in late November, so
a lot of the news related activities should be over before the Feb. trip.
 
Official dates for the Feb trip are: 13 Feb – 28 Feb, 2010 - dates (days of
the week) are a little different this year so take a close look at your
calendars. These dates include your travel days at the beginning and end plus
one free day after the mission. If you need to get home right after the medical
mission work is done, you can actually leave on Saturday, 27 Feb but most will
stay a day or two after to enjoy local sights.
From this you will see that if you want a 2 day side trip (Roatan or Utila
Island, Copan Mayan Ruins, Tela, etc) at the end you will have to return home on
Monday, 1 March (or after if you like). There are help sheets available on
travel dates, side trips, airline tickets and related topics… just let me know
& I will pass them on to you.

 
IHS Fundraiser - October 10, 2009 Every other year our fundraising event is a
dinner with silent and live auctions - always a fun event! This year the
fundraiser will be held Saturday, October 10, 2009 in Eden Prairie, Minnesota at
a great facility. Everyone is encouraged to attend and we are actively looking
for people to serve on the Fundraiser Committee to help us make it a great
event! Watch for further announcements and ticket info. Important…. we are in
need of many silent auction items to help raise funds. We also need a few large
ticket items for our live auction including the use of a vacation cabin/home for
a few days (somewhere nearby preferred) with a flexible use date. Contact Marcia
Ernst: fundraising@... to sign up for the committee or to find out where
to send your auction items.
 
Other Support The fundraiser will get us some financial support but it will not
come close to providing the funds needed to handle our annual budget. We are a
totally volunteer group so please consider a donation prior to the end of the
year to help out. It is tax deductible due to our 501©3 status. Also consider
giving a talk/presentation to organizations, churches, etc that you belong to. I
have pictures & presentations I can send you if you need them. Make many copies
and use the attached Team Map to explain all the types of medical work we do and
to show all the needy locations we go to. You can talk about the IHS medical
mission both to help get funds but also to help get new people to go. Obviously,
that would be best if it happened BEFORE October. Do note we do take
applications after October 1st for empty spots on teams.
 
The bottom line is the Feb. medical mission is a go. Please help in any way you
can to make it a success. We hope to see your smiling face in LaCeiba !

Feel free to contact me or any of the other board members listed below with
questions! That is what we are here for. The main IHS web site is still at
www.ihsofmn.org
 
Best regards,
 
John Kirckof
IHS Recruitment Director & General Info
JMKKEK@...
My IHS blog: www.groups.Yahoo.com/group/IHSmission
Ph 320-634-4386

 
*** Others you can contact with specific questions, as needed:

Drew Mathews - IHS President & Anesthesia Director
president@...

Steve Rice - Vice President & Asst. Project Director
vicepresident@...

Gary Ernst - Project Director
projectdirector@...

Kelly Koehnen - Dental Director
dental@...

Joe Tombers or Doug Pflaum - Medical Co-Directors
medical@...

Jonelle Tempesta - Nursing Director
nursing@...

Mary Bierman - Pharmacy Director
pharmacy@...

Matt Gifford or John Pope - Eye Care Co-Directors
eyecare@...

John Pope - Communications Director
communications@...

Marcia Ernst - Fundraising Director
fundraising@...

Chris Knoff - Engineering Director
engineering@...




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