Join the Mission: Matthew Songer’s Vision for Care in Guatemala
After decades in spine surgery, NASS Emeritus Member Matthew Songer, MD, is channeling his expertise into an ambitious new mission – bringing sustainable care to an overlooked Guatemalan community. Now he’s calling on the NASS community to join him.
By Kelly Campbell, MS
After more than three decades as a spine surgeon, Matthew Songer, MD, began a new chapter – one of radical service. The shift began in 2017 when he and his wife, Laura, traveled to Joyabaj, a town in the Guatemalan highlands populated by the Quiché people, descendants of the Mayans. The visit coincided with the release of the first-ever film in the Joyabaj Quiché language, a moment of cultural pride in a region long subjected to systematic discrimination.
“These people are the descendants of the Mayan people and have been discriminated against by the Spanish and their descendants for hundreds of years,” Songer said. “They were told that their language was a dog language and that no one would ever translate their language or create a written language, much less make a movie.”
The trip left a lasting mark. In the years that followed, Songer returned with volunteers from his hometown of Marquette, Michigan, to build apartment buildings for widowed mothers and their children. It was during these subsequent visits when he witnessed the region’s deep health care inequities. Hearing stories about Quiché women who traveled to larger Spanish-speaking being routinely denied or given substandard care made his mission clear.
In partnership with Send Me, a nonprofit operating in Joyabaj since 2008, Songer and his wife purchased a decommissioned mobile clinic and converted it into a surgical unit. The effort, fueled by volunteers from St. Louis and Marquette, involved gutting and rebuilding the entire vehicle, adding new electrical, air conditioning, surgical-grade equipment, and sterilization systems. It now includes a bathroom, generator, suction, sterilizer, and three AC units.
Despite the progress, the bus has been locked in customs for months.
“The most amazing thing is that they know we are there to give free medical care, and they’re holding the bus essentially ransom,” he said. “Getting equipment and supplies through customs has been our most challenging task. The cost to get it into the country is usually the most expensive part of the process.”
Image from a Quiché patient with a misplaced screw. For 10 months, every movement caused this 53-year-old woman pain. Dr. Songer couldn’t leave the country without finding a way to help her.
While the mobile unit sits idle, Songer and his team have been operating out of tents and offering basic medical services to the community. Their focus has been public health, especially maternal care. Working with the global health nonprofit group CHE, which provides community-based health education, they have hosted two midwife training conferences, equipping participants with blood pressure cuffs, urine test strips, sterile umbilical clamps, prenatal vitamins, and more. They’ve also begun performing school physicals for children – many of whom have never seen a physician or dentist.
“We usually give everyone a meal or at least some food and coffee,” Songer said. “We try to take care of their mental, physical, and spiritual needs.”
Long term, Songer hopes to build a hospital. The mayor of Joyabaj has donated a parcel of land adjacent to the police station, and architectural plans are already in place for a four-story facility. But construction requires resources and people.
“We’re very early in the fundraising process,” he said. “But we have the vision.”
That vision includes rotating teams of volunteers throughout the year, offering both medical and dental care to communities across the surrounding mountains. Songer is seeking clinical volunteers: physicians, nurses, psychologists, social workers, PTs, radiology techs, dentists, and dental hygienists, as well as nonclinical support to help with water purification, preventive education, and patient logistics.
Full Q&A Coming to NASS Insider
Interested in more about Dr. Songer’s mission work in Guatemala? Keep an eye on your inbox for upcoming issues of NASS Insider to read the full Q&A with Matthew Songer.
The team is also in urgent need of equipment: anesthesia and electrocautery machines, dental X-ray capabilities, trauma kits, burrs and drills, rods and reamers. Nearly everything has been donated, but remains difficult to transport across the border.
“I understand why poor countries stay poor,” Songer said. "They have such archaic processes and regulations. It makes it very difficult for charity organizations to even provide basic medical and dental care.”
The work is demanding, but it has brought Songer a deep sense of meaning. A veteran of global surgical missions across four continents, he describes this project as the most transformative of his life.
“Though I went there to help others, I think they helped me,” he said. “They gave me the peace and satisfaction that I’m making a difference in this world.”
Looking ahead five to 10 years, he hopes the hospital will be operational and supported by a full calendar of rotating clinic teams.
“God willing, we will build a hospital, and we will extend our care to all the mountain people that currently have no care.”
How to Help
Physicians, allied health professionals, and nonclinical volunteers are invited to contact Matthew Songer directly to learn more.