Hospitals of Hope began when a young physician assistant, Michael Wawrzewski, took a number of short-term mission trips overseas. He was moved to action when he saw that many around the world lack basic medical care and die from easily preventable or treatable diseases such as diarrhea and malaria. He saw an eleven-year-old girl dying of untreated tuberculosis, a farmer with a fractured femur left for dead, and a baby with congenital cataracts—which left her blind for life.
In 1998, Michael joined with other Wichita, Kansas community members to found Hospitals of Hope—an organization dedicated to showing Christ’s love through the medium of medical care.
Originally, the organization focused solely on Bolivia, beginning with a small, free clinic and expanding to a 32-bed, level II hospital. We have recently begun construction on an addition to the existing hospital, and we are in the process of developing Xelda Ministries, a relationship-oriented coffee house in Cochabamba, Bolivia.
Hospitals of Hope staff and supporters soon realized that the organization had the potential to affect medical care not only in Bolivia but also in other countries around the world. We collect quality used and new medical supplies in our 8,000 square foot warehouse, sending them to mission hospitals in 40 foot shipping containers or along with mission teams in their suitcases. We also support local low-income clinics, providing supplies and equipment to enable them to continue to serve those in need in Kansas communities.
Our work expanded to Haiti in 2004 with the development of our “Clinic in a Can”—a clinic built in the back of a 48 foot semi trailer donated by the Love Box Company. The Clinic in a Can is a self-contained clinic with a medical exam room, dental operatory suite, laboratory and storage room. A diesel generator provides power for all the electrical equipment which provides water, compressed air, and suction for all the clinic rooms.
In 2008, we began work in Liberia, West Africa, partnering with John F. Kennedy Medical Center in Monrovia, the referral center for the entire country. In May 2009, we shipped a container full of equipment for the Emergency Department at JFK, and in August 2009, a team of medical volunteers returned to the country to supervise installation of the equipment and relieve the hospital staff.
We don’t know what God has planned for the future of Hospitals of Hope, but we continue to be humbled by the way he uses us and by the way he provides.
In February, I abandoned my comfortable existence as a fourth year medical student in North Carolina, and traveled to Bolivia, South America for a short term mission trip.
