Spring 2014 Newsletter…A SUCCESS STORY
Nearly 30 years ago a young Dooley Intermed physician, Dr. Maria Compte, (above left photo) bid farewell to family and friends and journeyed deep into the heart of Central America to assist remote and impoverished villagers. She ended up in Honduras, and stayed for half a decade, serving as Dooley Intermed’s Medical Director, living in rough local housing, traveling the Coco River by dugout canoe to remote villages, holding clinics, delivering babies, performing surgery and training local health workers. Overwhelmed by the great need for medical care, with Dooley Intermed’s support, Maria established a permanent aid program across the Coco River in the Nicaraguan Village of Waspam. It has since grown to be one of our most successful long-term medical projects. Managed by a small group of Catholic nuns, the Santa Ines clinic provides vital assistance to the local communities, traveling by truck, boat, and even still by dugout canoe to reach the most remote Miskito and Mayangna villages. The Santa Ines Clinic now has 8 doctors and nurses, and provides vital medical care to nearly 3,000 people each year. Recent upgrades include a modest maternal care facility, diagnostic equipment, and a training program for local medical technicians, known as “doulas”. Our goal at Dooley Intermed is to help those living beyond the reach of traditional healthcare. Thanks to the vision of Dr. Maria Compte, the Santa Ines clinic is an ongoing success story. We express our gratitude to you, our donors, for the gifts that make projects like this possible. Your contributions enable us to improve lives around the world.
With our thanks and appreciation for your continuing support.
Verne Chaney, M.D., President Retired & Founder
Scott Hamilton, President
IN THE NEWS …
Update …”Visions of Mustang”, an award winning documentary film of a Dooley Intermed medical expedition to the Forbidden Kingdom, has been selected to screen on April 9th at the Palm Beach International Film Festival. (To view the Visions of Mustang trailer click the box above at right ) . A donation of $15.00 or more and you will receive this DVD in the mail. Thank you for your support!
Always, Ian …
The Discovered Journey of Ian Morrison Smith in WWII
Dooley Intermed is delighted to make available a most wonderful book, Always, Ian, written by his daughter,Pat Smith Hopper and the Forword written by Dr. Verne Chaney. Mrs. Hopper is generously donating a portion of the royalties to Dooley Intermed International.
Ian Smith was very helpful to his good friend Dr. Verne Chaney and The Tom Dooley Foundation especially in the early years.
Mr. Smith (born in Australia) was the founder of Medical Coaches http://medcoach.com/ which built, delivered and donated mobile medical units for Dooley Intermed in early 1960’s and subsequently went on to build more than 20,000 custom-designed, special-purpose mobile units for over 110 countries and all 50 United States. Two of the Dooley units went to India where Tibetan refugees have congregated. In 1960, the late Dr. Thomas Dooley promised the Dalai Lama he would deliver two medical coach units for use among the refugees. And in 1962 they were completed, and the promised two coaches left Oneonta, NY and were driven to San Francisco where they went on display (Ian’s 15 year-old son, Geoffrey rode in the mobile clinic out to California and met Dr. Chaney for the first time). Thousands of people paid a dollar apiece to autograph the sides of the unit in gold leaf, and so, when the coaches arrived in India and were delivered into the hands of the Dalai Lama on January 17, 1962 they carried thousands of personalized messages from Americans to the dispossessed people of Tibet.
After Ian Smith’s death in 1976, his son Geoffrey Smith, took the helm as Company President. And, in 1976 he became Chairman of Dooley Intermed International to present day.
Click this link to purchase “Always, Ian” and support Dooley Intermed http://www.createspace.com/4408867
Thank You!
Corporate Matching Gift Opportunity
Many companies have programs through which they will “match” the charitable contributions made by their employees. Through corporate gift matching, your employer can multiply your gift to Dooley Intermed, making it go further. Check with your company’s Human Resources office to see if they offer gift matching. (If they don’t, you may want to ask your company to start one.) If your employer does offer this program, your Human Resources department should provide you with a matching gift form. Complete this form and mail it with your donation to:
Dooley Intermed International
125-28 Queens Blvd #538
Kew Gardens, NY 11415
*All contributions are tax deductible as allowed by law