Marion Medical Mission

So I’ve read through all of the training and attachments that I’ve been sent. That definitely doesn’t mean that I know all of what is going on or what exactly I’ll be doing (or how) or where I’ll be (that will only be after I arrive) but what I’ve read has been pretty exciting. Here’s some background and info on the organization itself:

The mission statement

 “Marion Medical Mission is an ecumenical, Christian, front-line, hands-on, nonprofit, volunteer organization that responds to Christ’s call to serve by working hand-in-hand with God’s people in Africa. We show the love of Christ through projects that directly impact the African people, stressing self-help and sustainability.”

MMM was founded by Tom and Jocelyn Logan in 1985. It came from the first trip in the Congo and down to Malawi and seeing the need for clean water. In 1990 the Shallow Wells program began and now operates in Malawi, Zambia, and Tanzania.

According to a CDC 2012 update, diarrheal diseases (from unsafe drinking water) kill more children than AIDS, TB, and malaria combined. Safe drinking water means no deaths from cholera and dysentery. It means healthy people who can work and produce food which leads to less starvation.

Since 1990, MMM has built 19,000 shallow wells and has a 90% sustainability rate of those wells. This is because they work with the villagers and give ownership to them, teaching them the importance of clean water and taking care of the well, leaving them responsible and with the resources for the upkeep of the wells. MMM provides what the villages cannot: cement, pipe and skilled labor. The village provides what it can: brick, stone, sand and unskilled labor.

In 2013, the goal was to install 2,800 wells. 2,799 wells were installed. This year the goal is 2,500 wells. Each well supports around 150 people with clean water. According to UNICEF in 2013 there are still 786 million people without access to clean water so there is plenty of work to do!