“I have been looking to do something like this for long time,” Wright said. A few weeks after the other mission left, Wright said he received a letter in the mail about an upcoming mission. The letter didn’t contain a return address.
“These are faith-based missions,” he said. “This was the holy spirit’s way of telling me.”
Wright embarked on his first of three medical missions to Nicaragua in January of 2006. He was ready to do more after his first mission, but he would soon do even more. We were sitting in the airport in Managua waiting to head home, when my mission leader asked me when I was going to lead a mission also, Wright said.
Wright, an emergency room physician’s assistant and a longtime member of the United Church of Canastota, works at Oneida Healthcare Center. His medical background has given him some inspiration to travel abroad and provide health services to those less fortunate to have regular doctor visits and medications.
“It was very nerve-racking to think about all the standpoints,” he said. “Before I would just go along, take care of people and do what I do.”
Now that he is leading the mission, he has called on some colleagues to go on the mission. Including him, there are nine people on medical team members: one cardiologist, two emergency room nurses, one pharmacist, one physician’s assistant and three registered nurses.
Wright’s mission to Nicaragua will leave Feb. 20, 2010 and return March 1.
As of now, there are 16 people committed, but Wright needs six more people to make the team complete. Wright is asking community members across Central New York to either join the mission or donate to the mission’s fund.
Wright said the two most important qualities needed to go on the mission are flexibility and the ability to serve others. While on past missions, he said there were many occasions when the schedule for the day was lost with late transportation or extra people to attend to, but “that’s how it is when you’re on a medical mission.”
The mission will also ask people to step away from work and personal obligations as the trip extends over nine days. Wright said he has seen his neighbors become very giving to help his family while he has been gone on missions. No matter if you’re donating, working on the mission or helping families that have a member on the trip, the community is working together, he said.
Although some people might be weary of traveling to a Spanish-speaking country without much or any knowledge of the language, Wright said it hasn’t been a problem for any of the missionaries he has worked alongside. “If anything, you might learn a little [Spanish],” he said.
Wright and United Canastota Church Pastor Sally Buyea are working on collecting donations for the goal of $13,000 to acquire medications and supplies for the clinics the missionaries will host in Nicaragua. Buyea said she has been mentioning the mission trip during church services as the fundraising events near.
The church will host a pancake breakfast Sept. 19 and a spaghetti dinner in January to help raise money for the mission.
Wright said that all missionaries travelling to Nicaragua are responsible for paying their own way, which is estimated at about $1,200. This fee includes airfare, meals, lodging and transportation during the mission.
“None of the donations will go to offset the missionaries’ costs,” Wright said.
Immunizations and malaria vaccines will also be issued before the mission. Missionaries will need a valid passport as well.
For more information on how to donate to the mission or to join the team call 697-9222 or e-mail canastotanicmission@yahoo.com.
