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A Healthier Home for Debora

Debora Machuca is a bubbly two-year old who suffers from severed bowel issues due to intestinal complications caused by her premature birth. Despite all of this, Debora is a sweet, funny and mischievous little girl who captured our hearts when we met her last year. MEDLIFE has been providing Debora with medication and colostomy bags for the past year and has also paid for a surgery to start reconnecting her bowels. Debora needed a clean and comfortable living space where she can safely recover from her surgery and stay healthy. Thanks to the generous support of Katie Caudle and lots of other kind people, we were able to completely rebuild her home!

1The first time we went to Debora’s house, we found it in a sordid and delporable condition.

1Her whole family was sleeping together in one small room. The roof was falling apart and the humidity was causing the walls to fill with fungus.

1Debora and her aunt during our first interview with her. Katie Caudle and Ruth Verona talked with her so she could help us understand how to best help Debora´s family.

1The first day of construction we cleared the space and brought in materials.

1MEDPrograms Director of Peru, Carlos Benavides, personally oversaw the entire construction.

1After getting rid of the roof, it was time to start working on the walls.

1Debora playing with us after recovering from her surgery.

9Debora’s mom Vicky looking at her new house being built.

10Once the windows were put in place, our staff started painting.

10Debora’s family chose a lovely yellow color to paint the house.

10We also painted the interior of the house.

 14We used the extra money from the fundraiser to buy Debora a new bed. Here she is seeing how it feels with Katie Caudle.

 14Now they have a new living room with safe electricity connections.

 14The MEDLIFE team with Debora’s family after the inauguration.

 14Debora and Vicky in front of their new house! MEDLIFE is proud to support our patients and give them the quality of life they deserve. 

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Hear it From MEDLIFErs

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Reya Seby
Western University

This trip motivated me more to pursue a career in the healthcare field so that I can use my resources to help those who need it the most, similar to MEDLIFE’s mission.

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Victoria DiCanio
University of Connecticut

It was most enjoyable to finish the hard work and see how big a difference a group of individuals can make. It was such an amazing experience.

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Anita Woo
University of Toronto

I enjoyed the mobile clinics the most, especially the dental and triage portions. I would definitely recommend a MEDLIFE trip, it was a great experience.

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David Saff
Maclay High School

The most enjoyable part of my trip was hanging out with the amazing group of kids I was with. I would highly recommend a MEDLIFE volunteer trip to others.

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Sydney Sansone
Nova Southeastern University

This trip made everything that I was learning in my public health courses come to life and immersed me in a new culture while also learning about medicine.

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Abygail Youmans
College of Charleston

Being involved with MEDLIFE is not like joining another club - its bigger than that. It is about joining a movement that seeks to help change people’s quality of life for forever.

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Emi Hofmann
University of Central Florida

Not only was I able to participate in a week long Mobile Clinic, shadowing doctors of all types of specialties including pharmacy, dentistry, gynecology, and more, but I was also able to learn about the culture and visit incredible places.

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Julian Takagi-Stewart
University of Toronto

One thing that I really loved about this trip was that MEDLIFE made sure that the volunteers got an understanding of the complexity of issues that lead to underprivileged people in communities outside of the main city

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Hannah Van Hofwegen
University of Ottawa

Whether it was basketball with the local kids, assisting the doctors, talking with families, building washrooms, holding babies, or spending time with the people who were on the SLT with me, this was an amazing opportunity that I would do over and over again.

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Isabelle Holt
Cornell University

I loved learning about the patients MEDLIFE has followed and how they offer real help to people with chronic/urgent conditions. It is amazing how the organization formed real connections with the communities.

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Valerie Lindeborg
Parent

Our family had the privilege of participating in multiple trips with Nick [founder] and his amazing staff. Their expertise made the trips unforgettable while instilling in my boys the fundamentals of good character: selflessness, compassion, and empathy.

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Harry Vildibill
University of Georgia

As an aspiring physician, MEDLIFE motivated me to further continue my goal of becoming a doctor. In fact, I enjoyed the Tanzania Service Learning Trip so much that I decided to go on another trip to Cusco, Peru.