ISLAND FEVER ENTERPRISES IS PROUD TO BE A PARTNER WITH

"THE KOSRAE PROJECT"

My name is Betsy Mount and I am a Registered Nurse at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital. I want to thank Island Fever Enterprises for helping raise money for this special cause. I recently became involved in a medical mission now known as Kosrae Hospital Project.  Kosrae is a 45 square mile island in Micronesia, and the island I was born on. It is also a trust territory of the United States since WWII.  Kosrae inhabits about 7,500 islanders stricken with a very high rate of diabetes, high blood pressure and coronary artery disease. In fact, the average age of aheart attack is in the late 20’s. There were 365 newly diagnosed cases of diabetes alone last year and more than 400 newly diagnosed cases of heart disease  According to Forbes Magazine it is also knownto be the second most obese country in the world! This is part due to the high influx of canned/sugar-refined foods that are shipped into their numerous Mom and Pop stores. The islanders have adopted the western diet and their bodies genetically cannot handle this.   I visited the Kosrae State Hospital in the summer of 2006, and assessed the needs of the facility which are many.  The hospital is overwhelmed by the large amount of disease, that it cannot sustain itself because the average salary is $1.25/hr-$3.00/hr, so most ofpatient care costs are absorbed by the hospital.  Sadly, the hospital did not have even one working blood sugar machine on the island.  They had only one pediatric stethoscope for a population where 45% are under the age of 15. In 2006 alone they had 19 leg amputations performed due to diabetes and they lack sterile surgical dressing supplies.When I returned to the United States, I gathered my data and presented it to Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital’s staff in which we were ableto raise $7,500 for medical equipment needs.  The collaborative effort was enormous and this project flourished.  Assist International has been involved with 60 humanitarian missions worldwide in 40 different countries, with the purpose of helping to alleviate hunger, setting up medical equipment in hospitals, training staff and building homes.  This is all possible through the generous donations of businesses, corporations, service clubs and hospitals, since they are a non-profit 501c3 humanitarian organization.   An article about the  Kosrae Hospital  Project was published in the Salinas Californian on March 12, 2007 and made front page headlines inthe living section of the paper.  It also will be published in Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital’s Lifeline Magazine next month.  With the collaborative efforts of Assist International and Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital this project has really flourished but we need more financial assistance.  A medical mission to Kosrae will cost $60,000, which includes purchase of equipment needs and shipping expenses utilizing a shipping container.  Thank you for listening.  If anything, this project will help to plant a seed of knowledge of the health of ourisland families worldwide, you can make a small difference in the lives of Kosraens.  

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