Local doctor helps lead mission trip to Jordan

By Jennifer Dawson/Times Sentinel managing editor

The Middle East may not be a “hot spot” vacation destination these days, but not even armored cars could stop “Dr. Chuck” and Ambassadors for Children.

Dr. Chuck Dietzen of Zionsville and a group of 11 people flew to Jordan recently to visit a Palestinian refugee camp and to take some time to dip their feet in the Dead Sea.

The trip was facilitated through Ambassadors for Children, a not-for-profit organization that hosts cultural exchanges, brings aid to impoverished children and makes time for AFC volunteers to take a mini-vacation while helping a cause.

While in Jordan the group visited a refugee camp, schools and a medical clinic in Amman, the capital of Jordan. The volunteers also visited the Jordan River Foundation, a shelter for abused children supported by Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan.

Sally Brown, AFC founder and president, has traveled to at least 25 countries with AFC, but had never been to Jordan. Brown said she always asks Dietzen, who is experienced in mission trips, to accompany her when she is traveling to unknown territory for AFC. Jordan, with the Middle East’s current political climate, was definitely a trip for Dietzen to “chaperone.”

Brown said because they arrived during Ramadan, an Islamic religious holiday, they spent the first part of their time in Jordan working with an official from the United Nations Reliefs and Works Agency. UNRWA, established in 1950, provides basic services such as education, health, relief and social services to Palestine refugees. Palestinian refugee camps were established following the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict. According to the UNRWA Web site there are more than 4.3 million registered Palestine refugees in the Middle East.

When Ramadan ended, Brown, Dietzen, the UNRWA official and the rest of the AFC group went to a Palestinian refugee camp where they spent the first day visiting a medical clinic and schools. Brown said when the group visited the schools they conducted “child developmental activities.” The group and the children made friendship quilts, played musical instruments and ate lunch together. AFC was also able to donate five sets of an Arabic Scholastic Library valued at $500 per set. Brown said when the organization visits schools she tries to bring school supplies such as paper, markers, aprons and paint. This, Brown said, is why in-kind donations are so important. According to the AFC Web site the organization is always in need of school supplies, backpacks, children’s chewable vitamins, hygiene items and small stuffed animals. On the second day the group visited the Jordan Foundation, which provides shelter for abused children and works toward prevention of abuse.

Dietzen, medical director at Easter Seals Crossroads, spent most of the first day in the camp at the medical clinic where he trained local doctors to use the Web-based electronic medical records program that he and a business partner developed. Dietzen said most of the clinics in refugee camps and Third World countries use paper records for patients, which can be highly inefficient. Dietzen’s program, iSalus Healthcare, offers features such as conducting a search to try and figure out the source of a virus outbreak and viewing crystal clear X-rays. Dietzen said the medical clinic in Amman had computers and Internet access. The clinic mainly provides primary care, health screenings, prenatal and postnatal care, immunizations and first-aid, Dietzen said.

Dietzen, a self-described “mission junkie,” founded the Timmy Foundation in 1997 to help medically underserved children around the world. He has traveled to more than 24 countries, but his organization concentrates trips to Central and South America. Dietzen has been known to bring back foreign doctors and educate them further and then send the doctors back to their country, sometimes with updated medical equipment and supplies. While AFC is more of a cultural exchange, the Timmy Foundation focuses on health policy and hands-on healthcare.

When Dietzen speaks about his mission trips and his work as a doctor it is apparent how crucial his faith is. Dietzen grew up Catholic and said he wanted to be St. Francis when he was child because of his love for animals. While doing mission work in Calcutta, India in 1997 he met Mother Teresa and has been greatly influenced by her life. He also earned a private audience with Pope John Paul II because of his work with the Timmy Foundation.

Dietzen said especially when he came back from India he had a hard time adjusting to normal American culture.

“I can’t sleep because I’m thinking the kids will die if I’m not there,” Dietzen said.

Dietzen never entirely slipped back into normalcy, he said. He got rid of a lot of materialistic things such as his Harley Davidson motorcycle and now donates a large percentage of his income to his foundation and mission work.

Brown started her career as a stewardess and eventually became the CEO of Ambassadair Travel Club. She has traveled to more than 130 countries, often taking her family with her. She founded Ambassadors for Children in 1998. Brown holds a Ph.D in hospitality and tourism management.

No matter what their background, Brown and Dietzen put their passions into action.

Mother Teresa once said, “Preach the Gospel always, and sometimes use words.”

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