GLENWOOD SPRINGS — Nurses With Purpose recently obtained nonprofit status and will take another trip to Africa on Tuesday, said NWP president Pat Guenther.

The mission of the organization is to provide nurses with opportunities for training and development, and participation in programs that educate and improve health care around the world.

Guenther said she, her 16-year-old son Alex, a nurse from Seattle and a nurse from Dallas will set up temporary clinics at villages called Nyaka and Kutamba, which are about an eight-hour Jeep ride away from Kampala, the capitol of Uganda. The group plans to offer health care training and services, and they’ll teach the villages how to build and run more permanent clinics, Guenther said.

“It’s the first health care they’ve really had access to ever before,” she said.

NWP is funded by donations and 30 percent of profits from US Nurselink, a nurse staffing company, according to Guenther. NWP took seven nurses to Africa for the first time last year. Upcoming plans include trips to Ethiopia in July, India in November, Nigeria in December, and a trip to Mexico at some point.

For this trip, a contact in Kampala said kids in the villages asked for a few more things like underwear, toothbrushes, flip-flops and basketballs. Guenther hopes people might donate items or funding to help the organization.

Anyone interested helping out or looking for more information can visit www.nurseswithpurpose.org or call Guenther at 945-4888.

Contact Pete Fowler: 384-9121
pfowler@postindependent.com




Post Independent, Glenwood Springs Colorado CO