Fredericksburg Nonprofit Provides Free Medical Care to Villages in Mexico
Misión De Candelilla (MDC) is a non-denominational Christian medical mission organization. The Fredericksburg, Texas based group sends medical mission teams to nine villages (ejidos) in rural Northern Mexico six times a year to provide free medical care, free prescriptions, and spiritual support for communities (mdcmexico.org). Kelly Graham is a pastor and the Executive Director of the organization. He will share information about MDC at the Rotary Club of San Marcos meeting at noon on Wednesday, December 16 at the VFW Hall, 1701 Hunter Road. Visitors are always welcome at Rotary meetings.
In 1986 a small team of medical volunteers made their first trip to Boquillas and Las Norias. The project expanded over the years to nine villages in the remote northern Mexican desert close to Big Bend National Park. Seven are in the Mexican State of Coahuila and two in far eastern Chihuahua.
In addition to medical care MDC provides wellness clinics in small schools, helps with construction projects, and provides school supplies to children. The Rotary Club of San Marcos purchases and packs hundreds of bags of school supplies each August that are delivered by MDC to children in Mexico.
Graham says that MDC has provided medical care to more than 1,000 villagers over the past 40 years. Patients receive lab tests, EKGs, ultrasounds and medications all without charge. Children in the villages also receive a full year of vitamins for free. Graham says that they keep charts for all patients and have been seeing some patients for 40 years.
Many of the people in these three villages make their living harvesting the candelilla plant, extracting wax by boiling and then selling this to the government to make candles and soaps. The candelilla plant was the inspiration for the name of the mission.
David Rodriguez is the co-chair of Rotary’s school supplies project that partners with MDC.
He said Rotarians have been packing school supplies for Mexico for many years and wanted to know more about Misión De Candelilla. Kelly Graham was invited to tell the club about what happens in the villages, and the challenges and rewards of providing medical and spiritual care to such remote locations.
San Marcos Rotary is a nonprofit, nonpolitical and nonreligious service organization. The club is 105 years old.