Remote Area Medical has been forced to suspend its Guyana Air Ambulance operations because of the inability to find an insurance company willing to insure the aircraft for RAM’s operations in the region.
RAM remains committed to Guyana and continues to do work in the region - our Women's Health Program has a mission to prevent and treat cervical cancer in Guyana. This is done by providing free, timely, and consistent cervical cancer screenings, HPV vaccinations, and diagnostic and preventative services to the remote villages of Guyana. Volunteer providers partner with local healthcare professionals to bring essential care to Amerindian women.
Please consider donating to this project to help RAM continue our mission to prevent pain and alleviate suffering to those in need.
Prevent and Treat Cervical Cancer in Guyana
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Remote Area Medical is grateful to note that this month marks 20 years of Air Ambulance service, bringing healthcare access to thousands of Amerindian villagers in remote Guyana.
Thanks to the generous support of our donors, repairs on the aircraft have been completed and we are awaiting the day that we can return. With the COVID-19 pandemic causing strict travel restrictions, all of the country’s airports have been closed to international passengers since March 16, 2020 and it is unknown when those limits will be lifted.
Remote Area Medical is relying on increased hope and possibility in 2021. One year ago, we would never have expected to be where we are today. The pandemic was in the early stages around the world and knowledge of the future and how widespread it would become was very limited. New guidelines were being put into place on a daily basis. Weeks of limitations turned into months, and months have now turned into a year. With increased vaccinations, slowing the spread of COVID-19 looks to be a real possibility. We are looking to the future with hope that maybe we will soon be able to return to Guyana to treat those in need.
Our dedicated volunteers and staff remain committed to RAM’s mission of preventing pain and alleviating suffering. The purpose of our mission has not changed and we are grateful for the support our Guyana Air Ambulance program has received in this time of global crisis.
Our hope is that we will soon see wheels up again.
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Remote Area Medical recently participated in GlobalGiving’s Little by Little Campaign. This matching campaign allowed for individual donations up to $50 to be matched at 50% with no limit on the matching funds. RAM’s September campaign focused on supporting the Guyana Air Ambulance, as it is still grounded and in need of repairs in order to continue the mission of providing quick, sustainable, reliable emergency transportation to hundreds of Amerindian villagers in need of immediate medical care.
Matching campaigns are great opportunities as they show how lots of little donations can add up to make a big impact. Matching gifts allow RAM to be even closer to our goal of getting the ambulance up and running again. We raised over $600 that will directly support the Guyana Air Ambulance project and help pay for repairs that must be completed for it to be operational. Because of donors like you who shared about the Guyana Air Ambulance project,the closest to our founder, Stan Brock’s, original mission, we also welcomed first time donors during the matching campaign! Spreading the word and sharing RAM with the world means that you are directly contributing to these life-changing and life-saving operations.
We are looking toward the future with a lot of hope and believe that with continued support and generous donors like yourselves, the Air Ambulance will be up and running and back to work again soon. As 2020 has brought new challenges to the entire world, our mission has remained the same and we are determined to rise to the occasion.
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Since 2001, Remote Area Medical - RAM® has provided a free air ambulance to thousands of Amerindian villagers in remote Guyana. RAM’s free Guyana Air Ambulance makes emergency services available to areas where ground vehicles and larger aircraft have no access.
RAM flies its Cessna 206 into 28 different airfields in remote sections of the country. RAM volunteer pilot, Joseph shares about a 2019 expedition into one of these ‘airports.’
“I know the sound of Gunn’s sounds ominous but Gunn’s is the name of an airport 129 nautical miles southeast of Lethem, Guyana. RAM is centered in Region 9 in Southwest Guyana, which is about as big as the State of Delaware. Gunn’s is one of 26 airports in this area that we service. We fly medical personnel, supplies, patients, and caregivers to and from the regional hospital in Lethem. In a first world country, this might not seem to be such a big deal, but in Guyana, the roads, bridges, rivers, mountains and jungle make travel arduous and at times impossible. Mr. Brock’s vision of helping the out of reach people of this region has come to fruition and Gunn’s is a perfect example.
Gunn’s has no direct road that connects it to the outer world. It is reached on the surface by highway, river and foot. Typically, it takes two days to get there from Lethem. Years ago, Dick, his wife Judy, and a party of RAM volunteers hacked a trail from Para Bara to Gunn’s. The trail is long gone. In its place is a beautiful 2300 foot runway which allows, in about an hour and fifteen minutes, to connect to the outside world.
This past week I flew a dentist and her aide to provide a medical outreach to the community on Mosquito Mountain. This village is about four miles from the airstrip. The four-mile trip to the village is an adventure in itself for you cross three precarious bridges and pass through dense foliage to reach the mountain top. There is a health building there with a WiFi connection that makes communication readily available.
This outreach is only made possible by RAM’s ability to fly to this station. Gunn’s is only one of many that allows Remote Area Medical to serve the people of Guyana.”
Your donations will have an impact in the lives of these individuals and families in the remote villages of Guyana. While RAM’s Air Ambulance plane remains grounded and in need of repairs, your continuing support is needed more than ever to help ensure that this vital and life-saving program continues.
Remote Area Medical – RAM® is proud of its Guyana Air Ambulance Program. This important mission uses aircraft to connect patients who are indigenous to the remote villages in the region with healthcare providers they would otherwise have no way of accessing. This much-needed program is the closest thing to RAM Founder Stan Brock’s (1936-2018) initial vision for the organization. From 1952 to 1968, he spent time in Guyana managing a 4,000 square mile cattle ranch. He also worked as a pioneer bush pilot providing medical supplies to the region and helped create numerous air strips in support of that mission.
In 2019, the program provided $264,290 in value of care while logging nearly 150 hours of flight time. If the program is going to be able to match those service numbers in 2020 it will need your help. The plane seen above is currently grounded and in need of repairs. Your donations will help RAM continue Mr. Brock’s legacy and keep the organization close to its original roots.
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