Ayuda and airlines deliver medical supplies to Kosrae

Some 33 boxes of donated medicines and medical supplies were recently delivered to the Kosrae Hospital, courtesy of Continental Micronesia, the only airline to service Kosrae, and the National Fisheries Corp., a cargo airline that moves tuna between Chuuk, Pohnpei and Guam.

Coordinating the donation was the Ayuda Foundation whose co-executive director, Carlotta Leon Guerrero said the hardest challenge the foundation faces in getting free medicine to struggling hospitals is the cost of moving the free medicine.

“If it weren’t for the price breaks we get from all the region’s shippers, we would not be able to be as effective as we are. In many cases, the cargo is moved free of charge,” she said.

Due to the size of the passenger loads and route systems, donated air cargo often has to move from one airline to another while waiting for available space to continue on. In order to get to Kosrae, the 33 boxes first moved from Guam to Pohnpei on NFC where it was transferred to Continental Micronesia for shipment to Kosrae.

Continental flies a Guam-Chuuk-Pohnpei-Kosrae route with most flights full of Chuuk- and Pohnpei-bound passengers. Once the bulk of the passengers disembark on Chuuk and Pohnpei, Continental’s cargo space is freed up for the Pohnpei-Kosrae leg, allowing the pre-staged medical cargo to move free of charge on Continental Micronesia to the hospital on Kosrae.

Continental Micronesia, one of the founders of the Ayuda Foundation, maintains a seat on the Ayuda board of directors. Their current board member, Continental’s Safety and Security Officer Tom Berkemeyer, says the airline takes its responsibility of being the hometown airline quite seriously.

“Being the only airline with regularly scheduled service to Kosrae, we want to show that we are committed to serving Kosrae and being a contributing member of the community there,” Berkemeyer said.

Kosrae Health director Arty Nena says the donated supplies were a welcome sight and extremely useful to the hospital and thanks everyone involved in getting the supplies to them. The donation included latex gloves, surgical scrub uniforms, antibiotics, cough medicines, fever reducers, surgical instruments, vitamins and cleaning supplies.

The Ayuda Foundation is a non-profit organization formed in 1995 by Continental Micronesia, the Association of Pacific Island Legislatures, then Guam Sen. Carlotta Leon Guerrero and current Guam Sen. Dr. Mike Cruz.