Programs

Each year LMV conducts more than 30 days of clinics and treats more than 7,000 patients in rural villages in northern Mexico (northern Sonora and Baja), El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras; and among migrant labor populations in the Coachella Valley of the southwestern United States (southern California). Our work bolsters the longer-term health of the communities we support by providing immediate medical, dental, optometric, and other healthcare; and by offering appropriate tools, healthy living knowledge, and cooperation with existing health personnel and officials where possible.

We do so through the provision of services at no charge to our beneficiaries. The short clinics we operate – usually ranging from one to three days, depending on the site – offer quality healthcare services, including any resulting prescribed medications, eyeglasses, and so on, to any patient who can reach the clinic. In the few cases where healthcare professionals of the same specialization are locally situated, LMV treats people who are unable to afford that care, and seeks to coordinate follow-up with local services as needed. In part to encourage such coordination, LMV works closely with Mexican state and local officials and comparable officials in Central America. At the same time, our volunteers offer health education to clinic visitors on subjects that most directly impact their health.

LMV also runs a number of non-clinic projects that strengthen the villages we support through initiatives like high-school education sponsorship and wheelchair and other durable equipment donations. Drawing on thirty years of experience supporting rural and indigenous populations, LMV collaborates closely with a number of other organizations doing compatible work in the region, seeking where possible to provide tools and knowledge that enable communities to help themselves.