MEDLIFE: Medicine, Education and community Development for Low Income Families Everywhere.

I. Mission Statement:

Our mission is to help families achieve greater freedom from the constraints of poverty, empowering them to live healthier lives.

Our patients did not choose to be poor, but they have chosen to strive toward a better life; MEDLIFE stands beside them in this pursuit. We aim to achieve this goal through partnering with motivated individuals in poor communities working to improve their access to MEDs: Medicine, Education and community Development. MEDLIFE believes access to quality healthcare is a basic human right. To this end, we commit our time, resources, knowledge and hope to bring Medicine, Education and Development to Low Income Families Everywhere.

II. VISION: Doing Everything We Can

1. MEDICINE: Improve access to medical care for the poor.

1. Professional Development and Education for local health care professionals.
   Working in a resource poor environment many healthcare professionals do not have access to the tools, services, or supplies they need to do the jobs they have been trained to do. MEDLIFE works to help local professionals do their jobs better by gaining access to needed resources.
2. Medical Missions
   i. Primary Care: Screen for and care for treatable illness.
   ii. Surgery: Access to needed surgeries.
   iii. Special Needs: If MEDLIFE finds a patient with a special need we help that patient gain access to the services they need. iv. Dental Care – provide preventive education and
   treatments, as well as restorative care and extraction.
3. Establish a clinic where there is no access to care.
   i. Access main health problems and risks within the community.
   ii. Provide care appropriate to assessed problems.
   iii. Work with regional health care facilities and health related organizations to improve health within the community.

2. EDUCATION: MEDLIFE strives to treat the root causes of illness. Much illness encountered by the poorest of poor is not only a result of lack of access to medical care, but also perpetuated by lack of preventive health care. The Education vision of MEDLIFE is multifaceted:

1. Educate the poor on health topics, both preventive and proactive.
2. Educate local Health Promoters within the community to
   i. Educate members of their community on health issues
   ii. Help develop a data base of health needs, to better understand the root causes of illnesses.
3. Provide educational support for communities to learn about community development.
4. Continued education for health care professionals.
5. Offer an educational experience to college students, in the hope that they will be inspired to continue to contribute their time to community service.

3. DEVELOPMENT: MEDLIFE hopes by evaluating the medical needs of the community, we will better understand their needs for overall community development.. MEDLIFE's objective is not solely medical aid; we are an organization working with motivated individuals and communities to help bring access to healthcare, education and community development to poor communities to improve overall health of the people we work with.

1. MEDLIFE works to support avenues toward long-term, self sustaining development and to remedy those issues underpinning the cycle of poverty and suffering.
2. Development based on listening to our patients needs and concerns.
3. Working to overcome the barriers that disproportionately make the poor sick. For example, lack of clean water, poor nutrition, or lack of access to essential medications and treatments in particular for curable diseases and medical conditions.