For over five years Bethel University from Minnesota USA and the Iglesias Bautista Manuel in the Village of Xaibe have partnered on bringing Medical Brigade Teams which are comprised of medical students to visit the different areas so as to render their medical expertise to villagers, free of cost. Today reporter Victor Castillo caught up with the medical team at the Xaibe Community Centre as they offered their services to patients.
Denny- Team leader
"We are in Xaibe doing a medical clinic. Like I said these students are medical students. A lot of them will be going into nursing; some of them will be going into pre-med or medical schools to further their studies and become doctors of all sorts including surgeons. This is a great experience for them and I hope for the community too. The students are testing blood pressure, sugar and temperature and they are also getting a medical history."
The team reports that the most common illness among those they have seen is Type 2 Diabetes and common flu. With the assistance of Doctor Oscar Rodas, patients are provided with necessary medications.
Denny- Team leader
"The community, as I mentioned we are partnering with the church and they help to translate because none of the students speak good Spanish and we have the community that help us translate to make sure that we get the right information., And also the student body raised funds in order to pay for the prescription so that this can be a free service to people that show up and get the help that they need."
The team will also be offering consultations in Xaibe tomorrow. On Thursday and Friday they move to the village of San Narciso. This year the group consists of 16 medical students who have seen a little more than 100 patients so far.
CTV3
AmbergrisCaye.com 
