one giant leap for this community.

We made a big leap last week.

Just a few months after we moved into this community, a seven-year-old little girl broke her finger {at our house, because of our “creative, fun” idea}. Her parents said they couldn’t go to the hospital because they were afraid of the police. And since her finger was blatant perpendicular to where it was supposed to be, and because it was our fault, and because she is adorable–we took her to the hospital.

Little did we know, but this would unfold years of helping with medical in this community. It opened doors to trips and admissions to the hospital, trips to the emergency room, trips to the free clinic. It turned into trips for more labors & new babies than we could count, more vaccinations, more broken & set bones, and more bloody disasters than we knew a community could create.

If I didn’t love that little-girl-turned-teenager so very, very much and have celebrated her baptism last year, I might regret that first trip to the hospital. And if so many of those emergencies hadn’t turned this community into our best friends, I might regret them.

Instead, we celebrate that House Calls has created epic opportunities this community.

We’ve had to adjust our methods all along–when we couldn’t afford to pay for the hospital for everyone, we started accessing the free clinic. When they couldn’t do everything, we had to learn what their specialties were. When we had medical problems beyond our capacity, we had to call in reinforcements.

And after a few recent situations–including the breech baby emergency–we realized the free clinic was no longer a good option for our neighbors. We felt we needed to come up with something else that was still feasible. It was also through the breech baby emergency that we learned about M-Fund.

M-Fund started last year, and is a local organization that has partnered with the public Thai hospital to create an insurance program for undocumented migrants in Mae Sot and surrounding areas. For our neighbors, they can pay $3 per person per month (plus family discounts; and a higher rate for chronic situations) and receive entirely free treatment at the public hospital, up to $3200.

For those of you in the turmoil of American healthcare who perhaps just paid a premium of hundreds or thousands of dollars, I know you’re thinking this is insane. It is a bit. Even at $3 per person, that’s about 1/3 of a day’s wage, and not readily available for the community around us.

But, it’s an incredible development. For our community, access to this means that they will get better treatment available within biking distance. The better treatment includes X-rays and CAT scans; casts for broken bones; and surgeries. It also means that pregnant mothers can have their baby in a hospital, where a C-section is available if necessary, and their child will receive some form of official birth certificate & access to some Thai social programs and even legality in some cases.

!!!!!

For us, it means we can be done with 30 minute trips out to the clinic multiple times per week.

!!!!!

However, it is no easy feat to convince a community of impoverished families to invest in healthcare and insurance. We admit we are a bit of the problem: if we provide a free ride to a free clinic, even with poor care, it’s still free. It’s still easy and non-committal. We also realize that jumping into pay for your whole family is a big portion of their income–comparable to rent–and not easy.

Looking at our community budget, so much of our finances goes toward emergencies: C-sections, broken bones, and hospital stays. We decided to present a plan to the community that we think (we hope!) uses our community fund more wisely and more sustainably for the next couple years, while also helping our neighbors toward development.

Our plan, which we presented at a community meeting last week, is to offer M-Fund subsidies for the first year. After a community family applies for M-Fund and is given their premium, they have an opportunity to apply with us. From now until October, we’ll pay a percentage up to 50% for different families. We’re creating a tiered system–50% for Tier 1, 25% for Tier 2, and 10% for Tier 3. We pay that percentage for 6 months, and then they are moved down a tier (or out for Tier 1). This happens again six months later. So that even for the highest tiers, we no longer subsidize at the end of 2019.

We have also committed to help with pregnant mothers indefinitely, and we’ll pay their individual premium from the time they know they are pregnant until 3 months after birth. This is mostly because of the breech baby emergency, and that paying premiums has both the potential to save us thousands and change the trajectory of the baby’s life by giving them access to Thai social programs.

Meanwhile, we hope that this creates a window for development: a chance to see how insurance works and how it is beneficial for the family. It also creates a habit of saving and planning. It also helps to create a long-term plan for the community for the future, when we might not be here to help in the same capacity or at all.

And guys, it feels pretty epic. We’re not driving out to the clinic anymore! I just gained two hours most Tuesdays!
Instead, we’re pushing for huge strides toward development.

Following our community meeting last week, we’ve had three more to register new families. Over 60 people have registered!

It comes with challenges to: drawing a hard line in the sand is complicated. There are grey areas; there are hard no’s and situations to mourn. It’s not easy.

But it’s also a part of moving forward. And we do feel like more than ever, our strategies and involvement in the community are intentional: intentional for development, for projects that create returns, for things that are sustainable. And honestly, it wasn’t something we set out to do or had a long-term plan for, but God has led us.

Despite it just being the two of us, despite being in over our heads regularly, despite our inexperience and disorganization, God is good. He has heard our cries, and we are often amazed to look around and see how he led us forward, even just showing us a tiny step in front of us.

And that’s how we’re seeing M-Fund. We didn’t know it would come or when, but we’re excited for what it means practically and developmentally for the community. It’s a giant leap forward for these friends of ours.