Columbus Medical Mission Team Traveling to Nicaragua

Columbus Medical Mission Team Traveling to Nicaragua

By Shelly Burke, Editor

Nila Novotny, MD and her husband John spent time in May, 2009, doing construction and maintenance in the city dump, “La Chereka,” in Minagua, Nicaragua. The Novotnys had “a great experience” and will return to Nicaragua in February, this time on a medical mission trip.

About 12 couples and individuals, mostly from the Columbus area, will work in a hospital in Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua. They will be working in the only hospital on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua, where there is also an established mission with a church, school, and orphanage. (go to www.columbusmedicalmission.blogspot.com to see a video of the hospital and more information about the trip, as well as updates during the trip).

Some members of the team have been on mission trips before, and to some it’s a new experience. Tamra Boettcher, Nurse Practitioner, was asked to join the team after another team member could not go on the trip. She is looking forward to the challenge of “doing something outside of my comfort zone,” although she admits she is “not looking forward to the cold showers” while she is there. Boettcher is thankful for the support of her family, the doctor she works with, and the team members who have been great to work with even though she joined the team “late in the game.”

Each member of the team will be taking two totes filled with supplies—gloves, syringes, medicine, etc.,--and gifts for local people, patients, nurses, doctors, and girls who were rescued from the city dump and live at the mission.

Dr. Novotny says, ”We plan to leave almost everything behind, except the instruments we have borrowed from our hospital.” The team has held several fundraisers to obtain funds for medications and other supplies, and various groups have donated supplies and gifts. Donations of money will be used to purchase gasoline, IV fluids, and oxygen when they get there. (See information at the end of this article if you’d like to donate.) The total estimated cost of the trip is about $30,000.

During their trip (they’ll spend six days in Puerto Cabezas, two days traveling, and one day at church), the team, which consists of a combination of medical professionals and spouses, will do surgery (Novotny is an Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist; an anesthesiologist, several nurses, and a Nurse Practitioner are also on the team), teach CPR, and do repairs in the hospital and other buildings.

Dr. Novotny anticipates treating between 50 and 100 patients during the time they are in Puerto Cabezas. There is no running water at the hospital; the team will be allowed to use 55 gallons of water daily. Electricity is unreliable and team members will have headlamps to use when necessary.

Patients have been preselected and Dr. Novotny will be performing tonsillectomies and repairing cleft lips and palates and broken ear drums. She reflects; ”These people live in desperate poverty and cannot afford to travel to Managua where the care they need is provided. They have no access to care for ear, nose, or throat problems. I’m looking forward to helping those who would have to go without care were it not for the mission hospital.”
Although the group will be will be working 10-12 hrs. every day, in less-than-optimal conditions, Dr. Novotny is excited to ”operate all day every day without all the government regulations and paperwork that we have to deal with here.”

They will also share their faith—Tamra Boettcher says, “I hope to spread the word of Jesus to those I come into contact with.” John Novotny, who will be helping with logistics and administrative tasks, remarked, ”Although our goal is to help others less fortunate than ourselves, it can’t but help one’s own spiritual growth to be involved with a project of this nature.”
The team is working with Forward Edge International, an agency which has missions all over the world. They will leave for Puerto Cabezas, Nicaragua, Feb. 18th and return Feb. 27th.

Team members include:Nila Novotny, MD, Ear, Nose and Throat specialist
John Novotny, logistics and maintenance
Pete Diedrichsen, MD, Ophthalmologist
Dean Athey, Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist
Carolyn Athey, retired nurse
Tamra Boettcher, Nurse Practitioner
Jody Dreifurst, Registered Nurse
Janet Loseke, Registered Nurse
Melissa Shemek, Registered Nurse
Katrina Spies, Registered Nurse
Sue Tillinghast, Licensed Practical Nurse
Karl Tillinghast, repairs and maintenance


If you would like to make a donation to the Clumbus Medical Mission Team, please send it to:
Columbus Medical Mission Team
ATTN: John Novotny
4508 38th St.
Columbus, NE 68601

The Nebraska Family Times wishes the Columbus Medical Mission Team God’s blessings throughout their trip!
(A report on the trip will be printed in the May issue of the Nebraska Family Times)