By Kate Bernier | Senior Copywriter
What if you had the opportunity to change the life of a child? Would you take the opportunity, even if it meant putting your life on hold? Volunteers of the Duncan Tree Foundation (DTF) answered yes. They consistently leave behind comfortable lives in America and Greece to provide care to children in the Caribbean and Southeast Asia that are living with severe scoliosis, and to give them a chance for a new life.
The Duncan Tree Foundation’s overarching goal is to eliminate the gap between social and medical resources and instill a higher quality of life for the underserved youth. This is possible thanks to the generosity and kindness of DTF’s compassionate team of volunteers. By pushing themselves outside of their comfort zones and choosing to assist communities far from home, they have the power to rewrite the story of many young people’s lives.
The experience of volunteering for hospitals in Kingston, Montego Bay (Jamaica) and Davao City, Philippines - three communities that benefit from the work of DTF - give the volunteers a new perspective that can completely alter how they practice medicine and go about their daily lives. A foreigner only has to be in Jamaica or the Philippines for minutes before the local hospitality and kindheartedness becomes clear. The people are eager to share their experiences and learn from each other, and volunteers find themselves immersed in this culture of giving and receiving. The volunteers gift the community with a higher quality of life for their young people by sacrificing time with their friends, family, and medical practice, and they receive the fulfillment that comes with positively impacting children and families in need.
Walking through the streets of Kingston, energy and liveliness jumps out in a way that is unique to the city. People dance to reggae and dancehall music and enjoy football games, with nearby Blue Mountain National Park boasting hikes that are recognized worldwide for their natural beauty. It is clear how much Jamaican culture values activeness, and equally clear how emotionally painful it could be living with a disability in a city like this. Some of the children who are benefiting from the work of DTF’s volunteers have never had the capacity to involve themselves in these community past times. Their role model and ray of hope is Usain Bolt - an Olympic gold medalist and running champion who holds world records despite having scoliosis himself. Suddenly, those receiving the surgery will be able to enjoy the freedom to move, bend, and stretch properly and participate in pastimes that are so ingrained in Kingston’s culture. Giving them the opportunity to engage with their community in a way that fosters a sense of belonging is transformative for the family, and for the volunteer who gets to witness the child’s progress and know that it wouldn’t have been possible without their contribution.
It is not just the children who benefit from the hard work of DTF’s volunteers. Treatment for scoliosis can become extremely expensive - even in countries like Jamaica and the Philippines with universal healthcare. The cost of the implanted screws alone can be overwhelming. In families with no other options, the financial load can be too much. Donations of time, money, and equipment, provided by donors, sponsors, and volunteers, relieve this encumbrance and ensure that families can focus on what matters: the health and wellness of the child. Hospitals, too, benefit from the volunteer hours dedicated to scoliosis patients. Since spinal surgery is a specialty that requires medical professionals with particular expertise, the waitlist can grow to hundreds of people. Each child who receives the care of DTF’s volunteers opens up space for another child to have the opportunity to get off of the hospital’s waitlist and receive the care they need. Residents studying orthopedic surgery also benefit from interacting with volunteer surgeons. DTF volunteers, many of whom have formal training from top medical schools in the United States, actively share their knowledge with local residents in order to help them learn and stay on the front lines of advances in orthopedic surgery. The improvement in residents’ skill level after interacting with DTF’s surgeons is remarkable; the skills they gain make them well equipped to continue treating those with scoliosis almost completely independently after the DTF team has returned home.
No child should have to bear the burden of low self-esteem, rejection, or feelings of being outcast from their community. No family should have to choose between providing food and a roof for their children or the medical care they also need. No hospital should be forced to put children on a waitlist that can be years long. Every community deserves to have its people cared for. With the power of volunteers who have the time, money, and supplies to spare, the entire community can thrive.
Every gift helps to improve the quality of life for children and brings healing and empowerment to communities that need it.
$30 - covers the cost of two meals for 1 surgical volunteer
$68 - Assists with airport transfers for volunteers
$95 - Covers the registration fee for credentialing medical volunteer
$125 - Funds postoperative and rehabilitating costs
$250 - Provides housing for 2 volunteers per day, while away from home
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