Making Jungle Healthcare Possible

Decades of civil war have left southeast Myanmar with a vastly underserved healthcare system. The World Health Organization recommends that at least 2.5 health care professionals per 1,000 people are needed to provide adequate coverage with primary care interventions. As a nation, Myanmar has only 28% of this ratio. Karen State is estimated to have even less at 7-13%.

Southeast Myanmar is experiencing some of the
worst health outcomes in the world.

One in 12 children dies before reaching their 5th birthday—twice as likely as the rest of Myanmar, and 14 times more likely than children in the United States. Preventable diseases like pneumonia, malaria, and diarrhea are responsible for over 40% of these deaths. For every 100,000 live births, 282 mothers die in childbirth—13 times the maternal mortality ratio of the United States.

Yet the Karen people do not consider themselves victims, nor are they asking for handouts. Their hope is to build a healthcare system to help their people. Earth Mission exists to make their impossible dream a reality.

In a nation that has fallen apart, sustainable healthcare systems must be built from the ground up—literally. Here’s how your support is making this possible:

Education

Our education programs equip young leaders with the knowledge and skills they need to make life-changing healthcare accessible to their remote jungle communities:

We pick the best students. We partner with the local government department of health to identify top students from the rural villages of Karen State. Through knowledge exams, health screenings, character interviews, and a grueling 4-week physical training camp, we select the most teachable, determined, compassionate, and resilient students in which to invest over the next 3 to 5 years. Because of your support, their education is free!

How Earth Mission Selects High-Quality Students:

Candidates are carefully selected by local community leaders across southeast Myanmar.
Candidates are evaluated for knowledge, character, and commitment to serve.
Candidates are tested in their physical and mental resilience at a 4-week boot camp.
Top candidates are selected to become Physician Associate or Engineering Tech students.

Join The Heartbeat

Students receive world-class education. Even in the jungles, Physician Associate students receive a medical education guided by international standards. Year 1 students cover pre-med courses in medical sciences, mathematics, English, and leadership, to advancing in diagnostics and patient care at our teaching hospitals. In Years 2 to 4, they conduct specialized internships and in Year 5, our PAs make health and hope accessible to their people. Meanwhile, Engineering Technology students spend 3 years learning how to build and sustain the infrastructure of a jungle healthcare system. From foundational knowledge in physical sciences, mathematics, English, critical thinking, to learning sustainable construction practices and equipment repairs, to building electrical and communications systems with solar power, our E-Techs students become the backbone vital to making healthcare accessible in remote areas.

Graduates take healthcare to remote communities. Our students are selected from remote villages. They are trained in a jungle environment. Upon graduation, they are equipped and eager to return home to bring health and hope to their people. Some graduates have already trained more healthcare workers in their home regions—that’s the multiplying power of education! As a condition of acceptance into our program, graduates are required and held accountable by their local leaders to serve their remote communities for a minimum of 5 years. However, most graduates view their role as a life-time calling. Their sole desire is to help their people.

At Earth Mission, our students are the mission. These young adults have chosen to devote their lives to saving lives. It is our highest honor to come alongside these resilient young leaders to create a better future for their people—and we’re glad you are too!

Infrastructure

High-quality healthcare is impossible without the right infrastructure. This means modern medical equipment, consistent electricity, buildings, maintenance, and complex supply logistics. In a resource-limited environment, sustainability from the start is critical.

That’s why our Engineering Technology program is the backbone to our mission. Our E-Techs learn to build and stabilize healthcare infrastructure in remote communities with less environmental impact than standard development practices. This looks like sourcing raw construction materials while protecting local lands, decreasing waste by repairing vehicles and medical equipment, and generating energy onsite, especially solar power.

Students learn development practices that protect their homeland. The Karen have seen development done wrong. We train E-Techs in construction practices that focus on sourcing local raw materials, while preserving old growth timber. They learn project management, land surveying, site layout, and construction techniques adapted to the jungle. We encourage traditional construction practices, such as bamboo, when it makes sense. For medical buildings and classrooms, students learn how to make bricks from the local dirt. When concrete is necessary, we source local sand from the rivers and crush rocks for the aggregate.

Students learn to create sustainable energy sources. Especially solar power for electricity! Students learn how to design and operate electrical systems from solar panels and generators. This power makes possible the use of advanced medical equipment and creates access to the outside world through satellite internet. In these areas, the environmental impact of fossil fuels is magnified. This is because every liter of diesel used to power a generator or truck requires for that fuel to be transported inefficiently by boat and truck in small quantities over terrible road conditions—which uses more fuel.

Students learn to decrease waste. In the last 10 years, Karen State has somewhat opened up to the modern world. For the first time, four-wheel-drive trucks can drive on rugged trails outside of rainy season. Motorcycles are also being used. In remote areas, there is still little access to electricity, internet, and markets. As technology has come to Karen State, there is little infrastructure to provide support. We train E-Techs who can deal with the complexities of modern equipment, from repairing motorcycles and trucks to advanced medical equipment and generators. We see this as an important step in modernizing responsibly. This will result in fewer vehicles being abandoned when they inevitably break down.

With quality healthcare infrastructure and advanced medical equipment, we’re performing surgeries in the jungle. Doesn’t that sound like an impossible statement? Earth Mission’s teaching hospital is the first and only C-section provider in the region. Many lives of mothers and babies have been saved from otherwise hopeless situations. Overall, our surgeons perform 26 basic and life-saving surgeries per month on average. This is the rich learning environment that our students get to experience.

Supply Chain & Transportation

Medicine, supplies, and equipment are scarce in Myanmar and non-existent in the remote regions in which we serve. Because of this, it takes about 25 hours non-stop to ship and transport everything our teaching hospital needs. When vital resources reach us through a complex supply chain of trucks navigating the jungles, boats crossing rivers, and more trucks braving the mountains, it takes masterful communication and logistics planning to make it happen! Our E-Techs and supply and logistics support staff are vital in this process.

When patients can’t make the hours-to-days-long trek to our jungle clinics, that’s when the Karen people’s strong sense of community shines. Their culture is woven together by unwavering loyalty and gentle courage. At a moment’s notice, villagers sacrifice time they needed to work their farms or rest to instead help transport a sick or injured neighbor by “bambulance”—a hammock strapped to a sturdy bamboo pole, carried on the strong shoulders of their friends. For emergencies that require medical care to come to the patient, PAs jump on their moto and hit the jungle mountains at breakneck speed, dodging tree branches and carrying the moto across rivers to reach the endangered patient. If patients are referred for advanced care at a city hospital, our PAs make the bumpy, treacherous ride by truck to ensure the patient under their care safely reaches the next destination.

Together, we’re making the impossible a reality: a healthcare system that will endure beyond us and empower the Karen people to build a better future.

For those of you who have journeyed with us this far, thank you! Your support is bringing light to the darkness in southeast Myanmar. For those of you new to the adventure, welcome to Earth Mission! Here’s how you can help make the impossible a reality: