Medical Missions to Rural China
Interview with Mr. Stan Zimmer of the Zimmer Foundation

My Medical Advisor (MMA): What country does your medical mission team travel to?
Zimmer Foundation: China

MMA: What type of medical services does your mission team provide?
Zimmer: We bring medical supplies, drugs and needed care for rural patients who could not afford such medical care. Operation Eyesight is dedicated to eliminating avoidable blindness and has brought sight-restoration and blindness-prevention treatment to many people in rural China who otherwise could not afford such care. Operation Eyesight seeks to create high-quality eye care and community development programs that are self-sustaining and able to provide the best service for the world™s poorest people.

MMA: Why is there a need in this country?
Zimmer: China has continued to grow economically (GDP) around 8% every year for the last 15 years plus. Not all geographic portions have kept pace with this dynamic growth. Especially, in the rural areas many of the uneducated farmers have been hard pressed because their families have been split as their children seek jobs in the suburbs. In the past two decades, 200,000 million people have moved from the rural areas to the suburbs in search of better paying jobs. Farmers are not able to keep pace with the increased cost of living. This includes about 40% of all Chinese. We hear about the rich in China with so many new business opportunities yet there are larger and larger difference between the rich and the poor.

MMA: How many people usually go on your mission trips to China?
Zimmer: I have taken between two and 30 volunteers to China on special trips in the past fifteen years. The medical personnel come from all parts of America and also include members from Australia who want to help the needy in southern rural China. The ideal size is about ten people. When the team gets larger, a different set of logistics present themselves.

MMA: What conditions do the people in rural China have?
Zimmer: Many people continue to suffer from malnutrition and poor hygiene. The lack of good water supply continues to lead to Hepatitis and similar medical concerns. Cardiovascular disease, Cancer, Chronic Respiratory diseases all take their toil when patients are not able to seek unaffordable medical care. Medical products and services are becoming more available, yet they experience the same medical concerns like HINI, AIDS Virus and the common cold.

MMA: How have your medical mission trips been able to help these people?
Zimmer: Medical education and skills transferred by trained medical teams is very effective. In four instances, we have rebuilt rural medical clinics that provide service to these remote residents. Often they lack the trained medical staff and often the local medical doctors alternate between medical clinics on a daily basis. We have been blessed with some sizable donations and have provided two ambulances and sizable funding for new x-ray equipment in a couple of rural hospitals.

MMA: Do you have another medical trip scheduled?
Zimmer: We normally take a medical team to China in April and October. This is fully dependant upon the availability of volunteer medical personnel and support teams members. The need is real and the grateful hearts of the recipients make the trip worth while year after year. The skill transfer with local medical personnel and medical care is closely monitored and welcomed by the local officials.

MMA: Are you in need of supplies to take on your next trip?
Zimmer: Early on we transported used equipment but this has not been a good approach economically. Because China makes many pieces of medical equipment made for their environment (electric, etc.) we no longer take the equipment but rather take funding for such equipment. We do often obtain medical supplies and drugs available from pharmaceutical companies through a service called MAP International. These packaged medical kits can be tailored to our needs and have proven to be very well received.

MMA: How much does it cost to send a medical team to China?
Zimmer: Each volunteer pays their own way including the airfare, hotels, local transportation and food.
The cost continues to sky rocket with increasing airfares. Our costs have been around USD$2,000-$2,400 per person. A medical kit may cost an additional $600 each along with extra baggage fees in China. Once in China, we have very affordable accommodation in the local hotel and are welcomed year after year.

MMA: How did you become aware of this need in China?
Zimmer: My parents were missionaries 1936 to 1948 to this rural area in China. They founded the hospital in the main city of the prefecture, the College, one of the middle schools and other institutions that met the needs of the rural population. Now I go regularly and are welcomed by the officials. We work closely with the officials to ensure our focus is on target to their needs.

MMA: Are there other needs that the people in rural China have today?
Zimmer: Education or the lack of education remains a real problem in these rural areas. Zimmer Foundation has provided full scholarships for University students studying English with many graduates going back to their communities to teach. In many villages of rural China, these scholarship students are the first of their family to complete college. Zimmer Foundation has arranged to financially support specific students with financial needs. The eligibility for receipt of such scholarships is first year college students with academic excellence who come from very poor families. Often these are children of farmers whose annual income is less than $264 USD. We feel that the investment by sponsors will allow the students to break free of the cycle of poverty and subsistence farming that their families have endured for generations. Graduates are willing to go back to their rural community where often it is hard to recruit good teachers.

MMA: Do you have any stories you want to share about your trips to China?
Zimmer: As you might expect, after doing this for over 15 years, there are many stories and incidents that show the appreciation of the local people. Their heartfelt thanks make the effort worth while and keeps me going back year after year to help the needy. Our cultures are different, our festivals and holidays different and some cases, sound the same, but are celebrated differently. It is a joy to help those in need. I do not consider this as a feather in my cap but rather give all the glory to God. Providing medial care, medical equipment, full university scholarships, encouragement to the needy and bringing joy to those in a foreign land is a wonderful joy. Many can not afford the time or have the energy to realize such trips, but they can and do provide financial means in the investment of people in rural China.
The team members that go to China often hear from the Chinese, you are not at all like our original image of Americans, you are different. I think they have seen too many movies that do not reflect real Americans. Most often we are asked, Why do you come to China to help us? Now we are seeing exchange students coming to American based upon our efforts. We see a continuing relationship in our differing cultures. Again, we find that those who come to American find a much different American than they visualized. There are endless opportunities to help others.

For more information on the Zimmer Foundation: http://zimmerfoundation.org/