Local effort ships used equipment to Caribbean
Alexandra Zabjek, Journal Staff Writer
Published: 2:32 am
EDMONTON - Clipboard in hand, Jean Enarson stood in an Edmonton
warehouse Saturday morning, carefully checking off items destined for Cuba.
One X-ray machine? Check. Two industrial-sized washers? Check. Stacks of
beds? Check.
The items are part of a huge collection of medical equipment that a
group of Albertans recovered from the East Central Health Region for
needy Cuban hospitals. "In Cuba, a lot of the hospitals haven't had
their equipment modernized since Castro (came to power in 1959)," said
Al Bergsma, who helped organized the shipment. "We're putting equipment
with lots of life left in it back in hospitals."
Last year, Bergsma, from Rocky Mountain House, noticed some area
hospitals were updating their equipment and wondered what would happen
to the old items. He spoke with Dale Enarson, a friend through the
Evangelical Free Church of Canada, who had done several mission trips in
Cuba.
The idea of sending second-hand medical equipment to the Caribbean
country was soon born.
The Alberta group partnered with MEMO Cuba, a Ontario-based organization
that has been shipping used medical supplies to developing countries
since 2004. MEMO has co-ordinated with medical staff in Cuba to ensure
the equipment is distributed to hospitals in need.
Last year, Bergsma wondered if his group could assemble enough supplies
to fill even one shipping container.
Dale Enarson drove to hospitals in places such as Viking, Vermillion and
Tofield to collect beds, incubators, walkers and IV poles. The hospitals
were eager to give away thousands of kilograms of equipment that would
have otherwise landed in a scrapyard.
In the end, the group managed to fill two full containers. "What started
as a seed of a thought ended up as something much larger," Bergsma said.
Dale Enarson was a big player in the initiative until he fell gravely
ill a few months ago. Days before his death, he lay in a hospital bed
but was still taking phone calls about the project.
"He was passionate about this right to the end," said his widow, Jean
Enarson.
This most recent shipment was done in his memory.
It costs about $12,500 to send a container from Edmonton to Cuba via
Halifax. The money is collected through donations and fundraising. "This
is God's work," said Jean Enarson. "We're all in it for the betterment
of humanity."
azabjek@thejournal.canwest.com
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