Mercy Airlift

Mercy Airlift has implemented a humanitarian program in coordination with the Vision 2020 initiative established by the World Health Organization. This program is called the Crystal Project, and its goal is to eradicate the most common human ailment - cataract blindness.

Did you know . . .

* 42% of the world blindness (i.e. over 95 million people) is due to cataracts, which can be completely prevented.
* Annual estimates indicate that at least 5 million additional people are affected by cataract-blindness - every 6 seconds another person in the world turns totally blind and cannot walk unaided.
* Cataracts are the clouding of the lens in our eye. It is predominantly an age-related process that develops slowly over several years. Every human who lives long enough is prone to be afflicted by some level of cataract blindness. However, cataracts are easily corrected through a 15-minute outpatient procedure that involves the surgical replacement of the clouded lens with an artificial lens.
* In wealthy nations, cataract blindness is almost nonexistent due to the ample availability of cataract surgery and lens implants, administered as soon as the clouding begins to impair the vision of patients.
* Most cataract blindness occurs in developing countries due to the unavailability of the surgical procedure, the shortatge of trained surgeons, and the lack of affordable lens implants.
* Left untreated, the cataract-blind population worldwide will double by the year 2020.
* To control the incidence of cataracts before the year 2020, a staggering 400 million cataract procedures will need to be performed.

There is a solution - The Crystal Project

Initiated by Mercy Airlift, the Crystal Project is a humanitarian program that aims to restore sight to millions of cataract patients in underprivileged countries. It combines synergistically:

* A surgical procedure validated by the World Health Organization that addresses the needs of the harsh environment of local medical communities
* A distance-learning platform and a certification process, both under the auspices of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
* Hands-on surgical sessions in mobile surgical units aboard Mercy Airlift's converted aircraft, as well as follow-up missions led by Mercy Airlift medical staff and partners dedicated to the cause of world blindness
* A unique partnership with medical manufacturers for the affordable supply of lens implants and other medical consumables and equipment

Our mission takes us to various parts of the world. Specifically, we provide developing countries with disaster relief while initiating medical and sustainable human development programs. Many of these countries do not have medical facilities which are accessible to the local population, and of those that do, most are not properly equipped to provide adequate medical services and procedures, not to mention basic human healthcare.

Additionally, other medical relief organizations travel to these countries in attempts to provide healthcare. They quickly discover, however, that the limited amount of medical equipment and supplies are inadequate and fall short of meeting the basic needs of the population.

When we travel to other countries, we see the desperate conditions in which some medical facilities and hospitals have deteriorated. In overwhelming numbers, many clinics and hospitals cannot even provide basic healthcare, much less complicated procedures. Many communities and villages have built healthcare facilities and doctors who will visit them, but they lack the proper equipment to provide for the local population.

Meanwhile, the United States has a tremendous surplus of medical and surgical equipment. When the slightly used or new equipment is no longer needed, it is oftentimes removed from service and discarded. However, these products are exactly the type desperately needed in developing countries.

Mercy Airlift recognized the solution to the dilemma and developed an ongoing Medical Equipment Distribution Program with medical clinics, hospitals, and medical schools throughout the United States. The mission is to provide excess or surplus equipment to some of the poorest and underdeveloped countries of the world. We have also established relationships with manufacturers of medical equipment and pharmaceutical companies to assist us in procuring supplies and medicines when needed.

Numerous hospitals and clinics in Central and South America, as well as hospitals in Africa and Central Asia, depend on the arrival of various types of equipment and supplies from Mercy Airlift. Through our corporate donors we are able to continue the delivery of specific types of equipment requested by these hospitals and clinics.

Mercy Airlift operates a fleet of trucks, which are sent out across the United States on a regular basis to pick up equipment from hospitals, clinics, schools, and manufacturers, and transport it to our Mercy Airlift facilities. At our facilities the donated equipment receives a complete conditional inspection and is inventoried prior to the shipment being made to one of the clinics and hospitals we support in developing nations.

While providing transportation services of supplies and materials to disaster victims worldwide, Mercy Airlift knew that more could be done to address the lack of medical attention in developing countries. We therefore set out to establish Medical Response teams, which care for the physical needs of the injured and provide adequate medical services and treatment to those in developing countries.

Over the years, Mercy Airlift Medical Response Teams have attended to thousands of victims of disasters, as well as those who have suffered from illness or physical problems. Some of these problems include cholera, diphtheria, birth defects, malnutrition, and heart, eyes, and intestinal infirmities, many of which are life-threatening illnesses. The near majority of these cases are caused by the lack of adequate healthcare systems and personal hygiene education.

It is common in the smaller towns and villages of underdeveloped countries not to find any medical personnel available to them on a frequent basis. Residents must travel from one village to the next in order to locate medical assistance, yet often it is too late. Even the medical personnel who travel to these remote areas do not always have the proper equipment or medicines. They also do not have the ability to transport their patients to a treatment center, which can address the illness or injuries. This is where Mercy Airlift has been able to provide Mobile Medical Centers. On a scheduled basis, we have our medical teams staffing and stocking these centers with adequate supplies and medicines to ensure that proper treatment is made available.

Mercy Airlift transports patients, on an ongoing basis, from remote areas of particular countries to medical facilities where the patient can receive immediate and proper care. We also transport patients from country to country in order to have proper medical services and procedures performed in life threatening circumstances.

These services are provided by our own medical personnel as well as the many volunteer medical personnel, who give of their time and talents in the effort to ease the pain and suffering of less fortunate people in all parts of the world.

Types of Mercy Kits: Baby | Personal Hygiene | School | Cleaning | Sewing | Linen

We've all listened to children telling us of the toys they want; of adults wishing they had a newer car or bigger house. However, millions of families throughout the world, living in dire poverty, are without even the bare essentials of basic survival.kits

As a result, Mercy Airlift has developed "Mercy Kits" which meet the basic needs of families left with nothing, with no one to turn to for help. The kits are distributed free of charge to disaster victims, orphanages, and those who continuously suffer in abject poverty. Kit ingredients are purchased and then packaged by volunteers, social clubs, service organizations, schools and churches. They are then collected for sorting in our facilities and distributed to the needy.

New Baby Kits

There are millions of women who haven't the basic supplies to welcome their newborn into the world. The items in this kit consist of:

* 6 cloth diapers
* 10 Clothes Pins
* 6 disposable diapers
* Baby Wipes
* 2 shirts
* 1 sweater
* 2 gowns
* 2 blankets
* Baby skin cream

Personal Hygiene Kit

When a family has lost everything or has no resources to purchase even basic health care items, the sense of hopelessness and desperation can be overwhelming. The Individual and Family Health Kits are the most widely used and requested. There are made up of:

* One bar of bath sized soap
* One washcloth
* One hand towel
* One toothbrush
* One tube of toothpaste
* One package of band-aids
* One comb
* One nail file or fingernail clipper

The Family Hygiene Kit is made up for 2, 3, and 4 members of a family with the same items listed above except for the nail or fingernail clipper. Added to the Family Kits are feminine hygiene products.

School Kits

Our School Kits are most requested by families living in remote areas where basic school supplies are often non-existent. The Kits are made up of:

* Note pads of ruled paper (8-1/2 x 11) - at least 200 sheets
* 1 30-centimeter (12") ruler
* 6 Unsharpened pencils with erasers
* 1 pencil sharpener
* 2 erasers
* 1 box of colored construction paper
* 1 box of crayons
* 1 cloth book bag with handles or straps

Cleaning Kits

Cleaning Kits are always needed in the household, but always take a back seat to other needs and supplies. These kits are especially needed after disasters or when a family is living in a remote area and cannot access or secure these items to make their dwelling as clean, safe, and secure as possible. These kits contain:

* 1 Mop
* 1 five gallon bucket with a resealable lid
* Rubber gloves
* 5 Scouring pads
* Cleaning towels
* Dry Laundry detergent
* Dry disinfectant
* Plastic garbage bags (30 gallon)
* Sponges
* Household cleaner

Sewing Kits

Sewing kits provide and create interdependence rather dependence, and give women the capabilities to make their own clothing and to mend family clothing as needed. In some areas of developing countries, the women even begin to produce small cottage industries, which produce valuable income for their families. This Kit includes:

* 4 to 6 yards of cotton or cotton-blend solid-color or print fabric
* (a minimum of 3 uncut yards of fabric is required)
* 1 pair of sewing scissors
* 1 package of needles
* 6 spools of thread
* 12 sets of buttons
* 1 Thimble

Linen Kits

Linen Kits are in extreme need in many parts of the world, including here in the United States. The Kits are also used extensively after a major natural disaster in all parts of the world. The kit includes:

* New unwrapped Sheets
* 2 pillows
* 2 pillow cases
* Assorted towels
* 2 cotton blankets