FAQs

We will add FAQs to this page as we receive more questions. Feel free to send them in!

What is a MediBoat?

MediBoat is an idea that we came up with to deliver medical aid to remote communities who are only accessible by boat.

Who are you?

We are a group of people who hatched an idea that seems to be growing. Specifically Chis Wood, Rob Wood and Angie Morton (Australian boaties) came up with the idea. Husband and wife, David and Marty Sperow (who run a medical charity) thought it wasn’t a dumb idea. A team was born.

Are You A Charity?

Not yet.

We are currently in the process of registering a charity in Australia.

David and Marty run a medical charity in the USA (La Cima World Missions (external link)) that delivers medical aid to rural communities in Honduras. They are taking a massive role in planning the MediBoat project and expanding the activities of La Cima to the Pacific.

So What is the Plan?

We are aiming to get our first team of doctors and dentists into the western area of the Solomon Islands around the middle of 2010. This is pending the successful completion of contruction of our first MediBoat – the Lorna Jan as well as successful applications through Solomon Islands government chanels for permission to take medical teams there.

At this stage, everyone pays their own way. That means everyone who comes on the trip (including all of us) pitches in for food, fuel and supplies.

Isn’t That Thinking Small?

Yup – we have a slightly larger idea too.

We want to get this first trip under our belt before we expand this whole idea, but it could be huge.

Stay tuned.

Do You Accept Donations?

We are accepting donations for this project through La Cima (external link). Please mark any donations for the MediBoat project as “MediBoat.”

As MediBoat is not yet registered as a charity in Australia, we will not be accepting donations directly just yet.

Can I Volunteer?

Absolutely! We are always looking for people with complimentary skill sets. We are also looking for people with just plain old good ideas (consider sharing in our forum).

We are also looking for dentists and doctors who are willing to give up a couple of weeks to help out folks who don’t usually have any access to medical facilities or professionals. It takes a pretty special person to pay to give up a couple of weeks’ holiday to work in a third world country, but hopefully we can repay your effort with some of the greatest diving and fishing in the world.

We’re also looking for people with skills including navigation and cooking as well as deckies.

We’d also love to hear from you if you have skills in public relations, website development, accounting and just about anything else you can think of that can relate to this project.