February 2 - 10, 2008 - St. Vincent
With 14 years and about 50 trips behind us, Caribbean American Medical Educational Organization (CAMEO), was now ready for the 2008 challenges. Our first mission trip was scheduled for St Vincent and the Grenadines from February 2nd thru 10th, 2008.
Ms. Sylvia Williams, Director of the Nursing School in St Vincent, and Mrs. Syl Bobb were of invaluable help in organizing this trip. Ms. Williams was our liaison between the Ministry of Health and CAMEO and she processed all the necessary documents that were required to operate in their country as well as organized the transportation for the week.
It has always been a challenge to recruit doctors, but with God’s intervention, we were able to have 2 doctors on this trip. Dr. Naresh Mohan (a Surgeon from Canada), his wife Denise, Dr. Balmore Williams and his office assistant, 
Donald Griffith from Cleveland Texas, joined the team.
Along with the above doctors above, there were also 7 students from the International Medical Outreach organization (IMO) at the Florida State University in Tallahassee, Florida (led by Sam Davis), Elizabeth Greaves (RN and also a St. Vincentian), and Yvonne Keen (RN and President of CAMEO) whom completed the team.
We were welcomed at the airport with warm greetings and a pleasant driver, Kudge, who took care of us for the week. We were taken “home” and were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. John Fernandez, who provided us with beautiful accommodations. We are forever grateful for their kindness and hospitality. We then went grocery shopping to prepare for our St. Vincentian cuisine, introduced by Elizabeth.
On Sunday, we had a tour of the gardens and other sites and then went to the airport to pick up Dr. Mohan who was just arriving. Work then began by sorting the medications needed for each clinic for the week.
Clinics were held from Monday thru Thursday at Colonaire Health Centre, Byrea Health Centre, George Town Health Clinic, St. Benidict’s Orphanage, Biabou Health Centre and the National Society for the Disabled Persons (NSDP). It was while we were at NSDP, we were able to visit with Devin Richards and see him walking with his new legs that he had received through us in 2005. We also met with Ozone, another 12 year old boy, whom we are planning to do corrective surgery on his right foot. At the Orphanage, we saw 5 disabled children, and it was an amazing experience to see the reaction of one particular child when her photograph was given to her from the previous trip. She was so happy, pointing to the picture and drawing others attention to it. We also saw a sad situation with an autistic 9 year old boy, very aggressive and out of control. Overall, we saw a total of 393 patients and gave out several pairs of reading glasses and free medications.
On Friday, we toured the Grenadines by boat and it was an unforgettable experience and we are looking forward to our next trip in 2009!!
