Springfield - The dreams of a Ukrainian woman were realized as a 40 foot container was filled with medical equipment and supplies and shipped to her country on April 12.

All of this was made possible following her visit to Springfield and the efforts of Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach, the Springfield Commission on International Visitors, and the City of Springfield’s Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The container was filled with many items including donated new and used hospital beds, mattresses, lab equipment, incubator, endoscopic monitor and camera, EEG, EKG, surgical instruments and linens. Items donated from St. Francis included a sigmoidoscope.

In December 2006, a delegation of five municipal officials from small towns across Ukraine visited Springfield to study community and economic development.

This visit was part of The Open World Leadership Program that is an exchange program with the Springfield Commission on International Visitors. The Open World Leadership Program of the Library of Congress administers this exchange program that brings visitors to the United States for opportunities of education and awareness. One of the local host families, Stan Biesiada, was aware of Hospital Sisters Mission Outreach and suggested that the international delegation visit the warehouse.

So, on December 13, the international group, including Natascha Datchenko who works for a Social Service Agency in Ukraine, toured the warehouse that is filled with donated new and used medical equipment and supplies.

Within a few weeks of returning home, Datchenko contacted Mission Outreach and inquired about selecting medical equipment and supplies for a hospital in Luhansk, Ukraine. Upon approval, she and a physician compiled a list of medical equipment and supplies and secured the appropriate funding. This container is expected to arrive in Luhansk on May 24.

The Springfield Commission on International Visitors is part of the City of Springfield’s Convention & Visitors Bureau. In cooperation with the federal government, the organization brings foreign leaders to Springfield to meet directly with their American counterparts. Lasting business, cultural and educational contacts often develop. The SCIV relies on community volunteers to carry out these programs. The SCIV has worked closely with the country of Ukraine since 1998 on a variety of development projects.

Mission Outreach is a ministry of the Hospital Sisters of the Third Order of St. Francis – a religious congregation based in Springfield since 1875.

The Sisters are the sponsors of Hospital Sisters Health System that is a multi-institutional health care system that owns and operates eight hospitals in Illinois and five hospitals in Wisconsin. Mission Outreach continues the Sisters’ missionary spirit through education and awareness programs, cross cultural mission experiences, and a medical equipment/supply distribution and recycling program. In 2002, the Sisters organized this program to provide assistance to their Sisters in Haiti and Tanzania and to be a tangible public witness to the Congregation’s missionary spirit. In addition, the Program offers meaningful opportunities for Sisters and the Laity to better understand the developing world through education, volunteerism and travel to mission sites around the world. For more information, visit www.mission-outreach.org.