“I just love being able to help people who can’t help themselves. They don’t have the money. They don’t have the resources. (But) we can come in and do work that is life changing.”

- Betty Gray, an RN from Loma Linda University Medical Center, smiles with 6-year-old Aysel Galeano and her mom after Aysel had a clubfoot operation in Nicaragua that would enable her to walk normally for the first time in her life.

Doraldina Quevedo of Nicaragua suffers from rheumatoid arthritis and lost the ability to walk many years ago. Her husband and three children have literally carried her from place to place because they couldn’t afford a wheelchair. After hearing their story, IMAHelps volunteers took up a collection amongst themselves and bought Doraldina a wheelchair.

“When you do Third World medicine, it’s the purest medicine – medicine for people who have no hope. And for me, the spiritual reward for doing this kind of work is immeasurable.”

― Dr. Christopher Tiner, a plastic and maxillofacial surgeon

Our volunteers find that helping others changes their lives, too, whether it’s re-igniting their interest in medicine or opening their minds and hearts to better appreciate everything we have in life and the positive feelings that come from helping those in need.