This figure includes airfare for 20 to 25 specialists, shipping costs for two to three forty foot shipping containers of medical supplies needed during surgeries and pre and post operative care, and the purchase of high grade medicines and drugs commonly in short supply in developing countries. These figures represent the average cost of missions fairly close to home, i.e. Central America and other Caribbean countries. As our reputation is becoming recognized in other developing countries, these figures could, and will change. Recent contacts and inquiries have been received from Western Samoa, Ghana, Tanzania, and the Ukraine. Costs of transportation alone to these countries could easily double.
Help is needed.
As with any developing humanitarian organization, financing at some point becomes a determining factor when deciding who gets the assistance, what can we give, how much help can we provide. If the financial part of the equation were removed entirely the relevance of what we do would decrease until the reward we work for would become insignificant. When a mission is completed and the team returns home to the loved ones waiting, there is an indescribable feeling of accomplishment. This reward, even as self-serving as it may appear, is what carries us forward. There are many areas of CardioStart for which financial support is needed to continue to make our missions of mercy the success we have realized in the past six years.