tral Cuba, including items such as beds from
retirement homes, X-ray machines, wound
dressings and even a four-wheel-drive diesel
ambulance. Each container travels to Cuba
via Thunder Bay, Toronto and Halifax.
As word of MEMO spread, medical
equipment kept arriving from across
Canada. Dr. Harvey approached the
Evangelical Free denomination for help,
and teams arrived from B.C., Alberta and
Manitoba to dismantle the equipment for
shipping.
MEMO has established Cuba’s only
breast screening program. “In the province of Villa Clara each year, 80 women 50
to 65 years of age escape death by breast
cancer,” says Dr. Harvey.
Harvey has visited Cuba 24 times taking medical, surgical and technical teams
from Canada to correctly install equipment and provide training for Cuban doctors. MEMO is also committed to follow-up, support, technical training and parts
to keep equipment in good working order.
“The supply of medical equipment to
be recycled from Canada seems to be endless,” says Dr. Harvey. Shipping costs are
the ongoing challenge. “It is hard to believe
that my vision has become a reality,” he
wrote in an article for Medical Post magazine. “An e-mail from Dr. Aurora in Cuba
says it all. ‘I will send you a picture of the
department of X-ray in Placetas. All is very
beautiful. Everybody is very happy. It is
amazing!’ ” FT –Charlene de Haan
changes to its funding policies. The
Government of Manitoba announced in
September it will pay for the health care
services no longer covered by the IFHP
and then send the bill to Ottawa. “I was
just ecstatic when I saw that. Absolutely
delighted,” says Dueck.
Now that the campaign has achieved
its awareness-raising objectives, the
CMu students are moving ahead with
their personal goals. For Dueck this
includes completing a social science
degree with a focus on international
development, peace and conflict, and
transformation studies. “And,” he says,
“I foresee happening, throughout my life,
in various forms, initiatives like the 59
Cents Campaign.” FT
–Mary Lou Harrison
Bible Study friends Have Adoption Reunion
November is adoption month, and there are free resources to help
churches at www.adoptionsunday.com. Why not cut out the ad on
page 55 of this issue of Faith Today to show your pastor or hang on
your church bulletin board?
Recently, Dee Smith,* a foster mother in eastern Canada, received a won- derful surprise. Smith had been fostering Baby K, and the baby’s chosen mom and dad were scheduled to come meet Baby K for the first time.
When they arrived, Dee was startled to see her old friend Ann Young and her
husband standing there.
Years earlier Dee and Ann had attended Bible study together, and after the
last meeting had gone their separate ways. “We hadn’t talked at the meetings
about fostering or adoption,” remembers Ann. “Just the deep desire to not
pass through this life without having done something meaningful for others,
especially vulnerable children.” She remembers Dee saying to the group at that
time, “There’s just got to be more than being a hockey mom. I’ve got to get out
into my community and do something for others.”
For Dee that something became fostering for her local Children’s Aid
Society. “I became a fostering mother in response to my pastor making an
announcement during a Sunday service,” she explains. “I had always thought
about fostering, but had never taken that next step to connect and engage with
our local agency. We prayed, asked God to guide us, and we made the call.”
Dee and her family stepped into the process to become foster parents and
were approved just over a year later. Next came a call from the agency asking
them if they were ready to welcome a newborn girl into their home from the
hospital. Dee’s enthusiastic “Yes!” was the first step on the road that led her to
the doorstep reunion with her Bible study friend from years ago.
“We regularly prayed over Baby K and for everyone in the decision-making
process to bring her to God’s chosen parents,” says Dee. “When the agency
called to say they had found what they felt was the right fit, we were not told who.
Fostering parents don’t always get that information. When they described the
family, there was an overwhelming sense of divine peace.” That sense of peace
turned to joy when Dee watched Ann and her family meet their new daughter.
“That day our hearts were bursting with joyful excitement for what God
had done. Still to this day it’s a meeting between hearts – transformed ones at
that!” says Ann. “Can you imagine what God longs to do among us all, especially
among women and children?” FT –Faith Today staff
