Medical students travel to La Vida Mission to help Navajo children LLU students were responsible for the Sabbath worship service at the La Vida Seventh-day Adventist Church. Early on Friday, September 26, a group of five Loma Linda University students and a physician traveled to northwest New Mexico to provide preschool physicals for Navajo students enrolled at La Vida Mission. For the past ten years, LLU medical students have traveled to the Mission, located just south of Farmington, New Mexico, as part of the Students for International Mission Service (SIms) program. Preschool physicals are part of the children's Health Week activities, a program which incorporates both medical and dental care provided by Loma Linda students. The team was invited by Dr. Wetzel Williams of Farmington, New Mexico, who has provided medical care the past 30 years for Navajos in the Lake Valley area. Students were responsible for the Sabbath worship service at the La Vida Seventh-day Adventist Church and spent many happy hours getting to know and enjoy the Navajo children at the Mission, who ranged in age from 4 to 15 years old. Clinics were held Saturday evening and Sunday, and the students provided well-children physical examinations to 58 children. Because of the remnants of Hurricane Nora, travel was by car rather than the customary air transportation, extending the travel time from the normal four hours to 15 hours. George Lessard, PhD, professor of biochemistry, School of Medicine, who coordinates the program, feels this opportunity to gain experience, along with the chance to serve children, fully justifies the efforts put forth by students. [Scope, Autumn '97 contents] [NEWSCOPE contents]   University | Medical_Center | LLU&MC_home | Search_&_index | News_&_events | Employment | Contact | Our_mission All contents copyright © 2001 Loma Linda University. All rights reserved. Revised Monday, January 8, 2001 3:06 PM Send comments and questions to webmaster@univ.llu.edu URL: http: //www.llu.edu