Can you imagine a hospital without electricity? Surgery without modern equipment? Until my friend told me about her internship in Kavieng, I thought such things could only be seen in historical movies or experienced during war.

 

Czech medical professionals are now heading to Western countries to gain experience with advanced technologies that our healthcare system doesn't offer yet. However, I wonder: Isn't it better to learn to work in inadequate conditions, with a shortage of staff and modern equipment? For example, if there were a widespread blackout, hundreds of people would start dying in hospitals. Thanks to the experiences I hope to gain in Kavieng, I'll be able to save some lives.

 

The goal of this fundraiser is to raise funds for my two-month medical internship at Kavieng Provincial Hospital in Papua New Guinea and for medical equipment, which is critically lacking in this hospital.

My name is Anežka Jungová, and I'm a third-year general medicine student at Charles University. After spending some time at the faculty, I realized that studying medicine isn't just about learning from books and practical exercises, but also about truly understanding the needs of people around us. I decided to look for a place where I could improve myself while helping others. I want to learn my future profession as best as I can, and I ask for your help with that. I'll be grateful for any contribution.

Whom will we help?

Kavieng was recommended to me by a friend – a 6th-year student who has already completed a medical internship there. It's a place that is sufficiently safe and welcomes both our presence and the experience of advanced medicine, as well as the materials I want to bring there. Despite being a referral hospital for seriously ill patients from a wide area, there's a shortage of necessary materials and equipment. For example, the hospital only has one ultrasound machine, which serves the entire province, or two stethoscopes for the entire department.

Local doctors have to make daily decisions due to inadequate equipment and staff, deciding which newborn to save, fighting malnutrition and malaria, or dealing with scenarios where the electricity stops working in the middle of surgery. Yet, they are warm-hearted people who immediately welcome you into their family and, within their means, do the best possible work and are willing to share their knowledge with students like me.

 

Your contribution will help in two ways: It will provide material support to Kavieng Hospital, increasing the chances of timely diagnosis and assistance to local patients, and it will help train a medical student who will one day treat Czech patients.

 

The money raised from this fundraiser will be used as follows:

 The total cost of the trip and stay is approximately 100,000 Czech crowns. If the target amount is reached, I will use 40,000 CZK to cover the expenses associated with the trip (the rest I will cover from my own savings). The remaining amount from the fundraiser will be used to purchase equipment such as tonometers (blood pressure monitors), stethoscopes, glucometers, and dopplers for listening to fetal heart sounds, as well as approved medications. I will purchase specific equipment according to the amount raised and the needs of individual departments in the hospital. If the raised amount exceeds the set goal, I will add mobile EKG equipment.

I will keep you informed about the entire trip and the delivery of humanitarian aid through a Facebook profile with the same name, "Jak se rodí Papuánci" (How Papuans are born).

Thank you for your generosity and willingness to help good causes.