“If we can teach foundational health habits while the kids are generally healthy, we are helping to raise a healthier community over time,” Mapp explains. “I knew there was value in returning to the same communities every few months to assess long-term patient growth and development and to focus on education and preventive care.” By now Mapp had also received an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and after harnessing his business education to establish a nonprofit organization and his training as a pediatrician to inform the care model, Mapp set about identifying communities where he could help. He made connections with community leaders across Central America through a group called Christian Surfers International, and as he began connecting with local communities, he made sure to only offer support or services where needed. “We never want to undermine what’s already happening in the community,” he says. “If they already have healthcare infrastructure set up, we don’t want to disrupt that. That goes against our whole vision of long-term sustainability. We would rather work with that community and find ways that we can support them. Or if they’re already doing a great job, we would be more useful in another community 12
that doesn’t already have access to those services.” After several logistical trips to identify buildings that could house clinics, coordinate with in-country pharmacies to procure medicine and supplies, and build relationships with the local families they would soon be serving, Extra Mile took its first group of 12 volunteers to the Tamanique area of El Salvador in 2019. And although COVID-19 has limited the group to just the two trips taken to El Salvador in 2019 and one trip to Guatemala in early 2020, Mapp says he believes the group is still on the right track. “The biggest question mark for us going into the second trip of 2019 was ‘could we see the same families?’ And overwhelmingly we did,” Mapp says. “It’s going to take much longer to see the fruits of our impact there because our whole model is focused on development, growth, and nutrition, which happens over time. What we have been able to show already is that the families understand the need for follow up and preventive care in ways that they didn’t before.” Because the communities Extra Mile Pediatrics serves are remote—located several hours outside of major cities through rough terrain without the benefit of public transit—seeking medical care is often not an option for
THE RECORD of HAMPDEN-SYDNEY COLLEGE SPRING 2021