MAP U.S.
Office Mission:
MAP U.S. provides medicines and supplies to meet long-term
health needs in the developing world and to aid in disaster relief, and education and
training for those serving the world's hurting people.
Contact MAP U.S
Medical Supply
Disaster Relief
International Medical Fellowships
The state of the world's health shows both unprecedented progress in the past 50 years, and unspeakable misery. We have the technology to implant a heart and reconnect severed nerve endings, while more than one-half the children who die in the developing world die of diarrheal disease or respiratory infections. One out of every three people on earth lives in abject poverty.
It is into this world that the United States office of MAP International has stepped to meet the material and training needs of health care professionals serving people in crisis around the world.
In 1954, MAP first began providing donated medicines to health care workers traveling into the developing world to assist hospitals and clinics serving those most in need. Since that time, MAP-U.S. has become one of the world's largest providers of medicines and supplies to mission hospitals, clinics and refugee centers. At the same time, MAP-U.S. provides training, information and educational opportunities to physicians, medical students, nurses and other health professionals, as well as church leaders and others who are committed to serving the world's hurting people.
MAP's work makes a difference. In Zaire, medicines and supplies provided to a hospital helped stem the tide of deadly cholera cases that began during a civil war. The hospital "played a very important role in caring for the war wounded in Goma, thanks to your moral, material and financial support," the chief physician wrote to MAP. In Guatemala, hepatitis B vaccines helped the children of very low-income families. "The footprints of caring you left . . . will last in the years to come in smiling and healthy children," a leading Guatemala political figure wrote. MAP's fellowship program for medical students changes lives. "My experience in India cemented my desire to pursue work among the poor, and I am now medical director of a migrant and community health center in rural North Carolina." one former student wrote.
Her name is Furaha. It means "joy." She experienced little of it in her first months of life.
The infant girl lived, along with her parents and 500,000 other Rwandan refugees, in a refugee camp in eastern Zaire until war once again forced them to flee. In the confusion, she was separated from her parents and left, helpless, in the camp.
Then a miracle happened. Kanyindi Sujana, the mother of three other children, found Furaha. Out of compassion, Kanyindi took the infant along as her family walked for miles back to Rwanda.
Soon, however, Furaha became ill. Kanyindi knew that if she walked back into Zaire she could find care for the infant at Virunga Hospital in Goma. So she left her family behind with others and carried Furaha to Goma. At Virunga, Furaha became one of the many who were saved from deadly cholera by emergency relief medicines provided by MAP International.
Medical Supply
The Medical Supply Program is one of the world's largest providers of medicines
and supplies to mission hospitals, clinics, refugee centers and physicians serving the
health needs of the world's poorest communities. MAP distributes high-quality,
FDA-approved medicines and supplies valued at nearly $90 million each year. The medicines
and supplies are donated to MAP by leading U.S. health care companies and purchased from
low-cost international suppliers. Through a network of partner agencies, the Medical
Supply Program reaches into some 100 nations each year. To meet the needs of physicians
serving on short-term missions, MAP provides specially-packed medicine kits that are easy
to carry during international travel.
Disaster Relief
MAP responds quickly to humanitarian emergencies caused by war or natural disaster
anywhere in the world by providing the medicines and supplies needed to save lives. MAP
closely monitors world events and crises and keeps in close contact with other private
organizations and government entities to ensure appropriate relief supplies are provided
when and where they are needed. In the U.S., MAP provides materials and personnel to aid
federal disaster response medical teams called into action.
International Medical Fellowships
More than 1,700 senior medical students from the U.S. and Canada have received
life-changing training in overseas mission hospitals through the MAP/Reader's Digest
International Fellowship program. The goal of the program is to encourage these students
to commit, either full or part-time, to Christian health care ministries in the developing
world.
Message from the interim president
Michael J. Nyenhuis
At the United States office of MAP International, we have renewed our commitment to reach more people with a practical demonstration of caring. Much of our work is centered on the goal of serving the health care professionals and institutions that in turn serve those in need. We're going to continue to do this, but also learn how we can more directly/effectively serve the poorest communities in the world.
My vision is to continue to consolidate and improve our service to other organizations around the world. In doing that, I want to focus attention as well on the indigenous institutional structures, including the church and other community-based organizations, that are emerging in the developing world. That means helping to upgrade health care systems and resources in the communities in which we work. I also want to improve our ability to respond more effectively in the area of disaster relief.
I look forward to serving with you as together we carry lifesaving medicines, relief and development assistance to some of the neediest people on earth.
Offices:
East and Southern Africa in Nairobi, Kenya
West Africa in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire
Latin America in Quito, Ecuador
Bolivia in Chilimarca, Bolivia
United States in Brunswick, Ga.