Montana To Palau
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The above quote from Emerson is likely not hanging on any walls or gracing the inside covers of many journals, but perhaps it should be. In a culture where we waste so much time moaning about traffic, whining when the internet is slow, and complaining about a litany of first world problems; it is easy to see how our self-focus may have distracted from our bigger purpose.
His suggestion of “life’s purpose” might cause us to pause and reflect on what we value and how our lives mirror our priorities. Self-awareness makes many of us very uncomfortable, and while most of us would say that we are compassionate and want to make a difference in the world, our actions are a more accurate reflection of where our hearts are. It is not because we don’t care or that we don’t want to help… it’s just that all too often we allow the busyness of our day-to-day lives to consume us. Or maybe it is simpler than that, perhaps with all the need in the world, we just don’t know where to start. And that first step is certainly the hardest one to take.
I had the privilege to sit down with Dr. Gwenda Jonas, a board-certified OB/GYN. Dr. Jonas is a private practice physician and partner and co- owner of Kalispell OB/GYN since 2001. Prior to moving to Flathead Valley, she was in private practice for four years in Phoenix, AZ and was an Associate Clinical Professor for the University of Arizona School of Medicine. She has served as Chief of Staff of Kalispell Regional Medical Center, as a Kalispell Regional HealthCare Board member, as well as a number of other committees at KRMC, including Medical Ethics and Mass Casualty.
Dr. Jonas recently returned from a medical mission trip to Palau in the Western Pacific. There she had the opportunity to work alongside a team of other health professionals, many from Kalispell to provide gynecology services to the people of Palau. They volunteered not only their skills and time but brought with them their own supplies and medical equipment. They saw hundreds of patients and in a span of eight days the team performed 36 surgeries. Several members of the team from KRMC and Health Center Northwest took part in this medical mission, and many were returning for their 2nd and 3rd time. They have answered a call to serve in an area that has a great need for access to the world of modern medicine. They have found a means to do that through the work of Canvasback Missions.
For almost 38 years, Canvasback Missions has been leading medical missions to help the people of Micronesia. If you need a geography refresher as I did, Micronesia is made up of scattered islands in the Pacific Ocean. They are close to 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii. Canvasback Missions has just recently gone to the isles of Palau which is in the same region but is a Republic comprised of approximately 340 islands.
Canvasback’s interest in this area started when with the organization’s founders, Jamie and Jacque Spence. For years they sailed in the Pacific and witnessed the need of the people living there. They knew there was a lot that could be done to help and took the steps to do them.
Non-communicable diseases like diabetes, diabetes hypertension, obesity, and cancer are very common in this area. In fact, as of 2017, Micronesia had the highest prevalence of diabetes in the world, with around 33 percent suffering from the disease. There are often no specialty physicians on these islands which means residents can suffer from treatable illnesses much longer than they should.
Today, Canvasback annually coordinates five to eight specialty teams consisting of 10-20 doctors, nurses, medical staff, and support people who are sent to conduct life-changing surgeries and treatments.
Every service they offer to the islanders during these trips is free, which is vital because the average monthly income is less than $100. Since the cost of surgeries can easily run thousands of dollars, the medical treatments and surgeries offered by Canvasback might be the only opportunity these people have of being treated.
Canvasback’s medical specialty teams are gynecology, ophthalmology, orthopedics, dental, ENT, Dermatology, Urology, & Cardiology.
Canvasback is often asked about sustainability. On this subject, they write “One of our strongest beliefs is that, when possible, the change should come from within a community. We make donations go as far as possible by having medical team members volunteer their services. We never charge patients for exams, surgeries, or medicines. We only provide specialty medical care that is unavailable, which means we do not take jobs away from local healthcare workers. In addition, our surgery teams often train local doctors, giving them the experience necessary to improve the overall healthcare of Micronesia.”
Canvasback’s primary funding comes from individuals and some businesses. They are also able to utilize grant money from governments and world organizations when it is available, but there is always more to be done and always a need to be met.
If you would like to help support this mission you can donate at canvasback. org/donate. The organization states that it needs help from anyone with professional skills. If you would like to be involved but aren’t sure how you can help, this might be a great “first step.” An opportunity “to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”