In the city of Annandale, in the South American country of Guyana, there are nine children who are happy to have a father today.

A patient receives life-saving dialysis at the Doobay Renal Centre in Guyana, South America.

Their father is a labourer, just 36 years old, who has end-stage renal disease. He requires dialysis to stay alive, but the cost of each treatment is $200. That cost is essentially a death sentence for this father, since he earns less than $3,200 a year, and has a large family to support.

This father is alive today because of many generous people. Among them are the five kidney doctors from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton who take turns every two months—at their own expense—to visit the renal clinic in Annandale. With the help of the International Outreach Program, these nephrologists are training local doctors to deliver life-saving dialysis.

Then there are our donors. This father is receiving free dialysis because of the generosity of donors in his country, donors in Canada, and donors in the Hamilton area. “Each year on dialysis provides nine years of parenting that would not have occurred otherwise,” says Dr. Alistair Ingram, nephrologist and Chief of the Department of Medicine at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton. “At the very least, all of his children will remember their father.”

Our work in Guyana is a great example of how our supporters are helping us save lives in developing countries by training doctors, who train doctors. Training doctors is what we do, and we do it thanks to the financial support of people just like you. Thanks.