Please support my volunteer efforts to build two home dialysis rooms for children in Guatemala this June.

Background: Absolutely devastatingly, children with kidney failure (ESRD) are 30 times more likely to die than an otherwise healthy child. Young adults who have had ESRD since childhood have a life expectancy of <40 years if they are treated with dialysis, and twice that if they are fortunate enough to receive a kidney transplant.

I am joining a medical mission this June in rural Guatemala to provide life-changing support to children with ESRD undergoing dialysis. In Guatemala, families across the country, and especially those living in remote areas have unprecedented barriers to their treatment. There are limited facilities available, often requiring substantial one-way commutes to receive their 4-hour treatment 3-times per week. Many other barriers exist including access to resources, transportation, or language challenges. One of the children we are supporting, Gladis (aged 13), lives in remote Guatemala and has to make a 7 hour one-way journey every treatment (3x/week).

In Guatemala, there also exists a life-changing opportunity for children. For those that are able to dialyze at home, they are able to receive treatment that not only improves their (and the family's) quality of life, but also to receive a type of treatment (home) that is typically associated with significantly improved clinical outcomes, including increased likelihood of being eligible for a transplant. In addition, the local government covers the majority if not all of the cost for the treatment. For those living in rural areas, this opportunity is significantly more complicated to achieve in the way of access to resources needed to achieve the important and necessary safety requirements for the child's home-based dialysis treatment room. This is why we are embarking on this volunteer mission with Bridge of Life, other local partners including Habitat for Humanity Guatemala, to construct these rooms and create a safe environment for several children. This is part of an ongoing effort to help support the health and well-being of children living with renal disease in rural communities of Guatemala.

I am requesting any support that you may be able to provide to our mission (not me directly). Every bit helps, truly. This is a volunteer mission from a non-profit-organization, so your contributions support this and many other varying missions around the globe. Absolutely everything is profoundly appreciated.

On a personal note, I was fortunate to also participate in a Bridge of Life medical mission in 2017 that time in Dominican Republic to provide desperately needed primary health care supplies and services to nearly 500 members of the community. I drew so much from that experience and have been anxiously awaiting the opportunity to do more. Understandably, these missions were largely halted during the pandemic, and I'm grateful to see them return and to volunteer in one of many areas of critical global need.