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Our History
CAMO Today At present, CAMO serves over 67,000 people a year in Central America and receives over $2million dollars in donated supplies, time and financial contributions. To facilitate the efficient distribution of medical supplies, a distribution center was built in Honduras in 2003 and is now operated by CAMO’s Central American counterpart –Fundación CAMO. Fundación CAMO serves as CAMO USA’s local partner and conduit to the community. Fundación CAMO employs 13 Honduran staff who assist in implementing the 15 programs that CAMO has developed and funded. Community Development  In
addition to the medical programming that CAMO has traditionally focused
on, CAMO has begun to reach out further into the community and support
local development projects that address the mental, social and educational
health of Honduras as well. These projects include the construction
of a community center and gym, which will be the only such facility to
service over 1 million inhabitants in western Honduras. This facility
will allow for the development of community based cultural and athletic
activities- a much-needed resource in Honduras. Also in development
is the re-opening of a trade school for street boys in Santa Rosa de Copan.
The number of children living on the streets is on the rise in Honduras’s
cities and so is the need for constructive programming to engage these
children in educational and skills based training activities. With
this goal in mind, CAMO has pledged its support to a struggling technical
school that has decided to re-open its doors and reach out to these young
men by providing a work-skills curriculum. The program will train participants
in carpentry and construction, which will provide them with a way to earn
a living and obtain shelter and food.
Our Vision It is the vision of CAMO to be a leader in providing and integrating safe medical equipment, related medical education, volunteer trainers and community development to Central America. We work in partnership with our developing country counterparts to identify and implement all programs. The quality and commitment of our volunteers and services is recognized as the best available, and we provide this at a lower cost than other organizations. Our volunteers consider our organization an excellent place to illustrate their faith in action. Counterparts CAMO’s goal is to create sustainable development in Central America. As opposed to a relief organization that implements short term temporary projects, CAMO has chosen to purposefully develop long-term programming that will become integrated into the public health systems in Central American. To this end, CAMO has designed a counterparting system with local doctors and nurses. This design pairs American experts with local Honduran counterparts and together the team addresses a problem and implements a program to combat it. This type of programming creates a situation where the community receiving the assistance does not become forever reliant on the patron, but instead, increases their capacity through training and improved equipment, to improve the quality of care they are able to deliver. In this system, programming doesn’t stop when the American counterparts leave Honduras. Funding for each program is provided year round and the patrons assist along the way with periodical visits for new training and equipment, while local experts implement the projects on the ground. This work is greatly assisted with the presence of Fundación CAMO and the local distribution center, which supplies the local experts with information, supplies and institutional support.
Quality Assurance
Medical professionals donate their time with the understanding that
they participate in an ongoing program which might require a commitment
of 1 -2 weeks per year for five years.
Fundación CAMO Honduras Fundación CAMO Honduras is CAMO USA's working counterpart . The Board is a group of nine Honduran professionals who donate their time and expertise to make sure that CAMO programs are monitored and specific needs are met in Honduras. Our Facilities CAMO USA: CAMO inaugurated its new warehouse at 322 Westwood in Orrville in 1999, where storage, sorting and shipping of all items now takes place. The volunteer-run 48’x 96’ structure was made possible by the generosity of many volunteers and their time, materials and financial donations. Now CAMO staff and volunteers have a clean, weatherproof building to sort and pack out of! CAMO’s administrative offices are also now located at this address.
CAMO Honduras: CAMO’s counterpart in Honduras operates out of a new distribution center that was made possible by the generous donations of both Honduran and American patrons. The new facility houses CAMO’s 13 staff, the prosthetics lab and a large distribution center that receives the shipments from the US and manages their distribution in Central America.
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CAMO
has been serving Central America since 1993. CAMO's founder, Kathryn Tschiegg,
RN served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Honduras. Moved by the suffering
endured by those unable to receive quality medical care due to lack of
equipment and technology, and driven by a desire for a full-time Christian
service, she resolved to do what she could to change the situation.
All
equipment provided by CAMO is technically sound and in good working order.
This equipment would be or has been discarded in the United States.
CAMO trains Honduran public health staff to use the donated equipment through
the efforts of licensed medical professionals from the United States who
donate their time and services to Central American hospitals and
clinics. These medical teams travel with the sole purpose of integrating
medical equipment and technology into the daily workings of these facilities
and training the Central American staff to use their new skills after the
U.S. teams leave.
