We have celebrated Thanksgiving in America, and we are entering the Christmas Season. Despite our current economic woes, we remain a land of plenty, of choices, of wealth, and frankly of opulence. We should all be grateful; but more than that, we should feel the responsibility to share with others.
If you haven’t visited Developing Countries, it becomes difficult to understand the “lack” of things. Just the simple act of traveling around and you’ll notice the lack of what you consider basics: drinkable water, toilet paper [even proper bathrooms], trash cans, mirrors, “rest stops” with all the amenities, and on and on. Now multiply these simple examples by a thousand fold and you’ll begin to understand the lack of things.
This deficit of “essentials” extends to healthcare. Being a physician who’s worked in rural Africa for many years, I am acutely aware of the lack of necessary supplies. And I’m talking about very basic supplies here: bandaging and casting materials; proper suture [for stitching]; needles for starting IV’s; IV fluids; proper antibiotics and other medicines; etc. How about oxygen – do you consider this basic? Once in Tanzania we went five months without any oxygen because of some government snafu. How necessary simple oxygen is for newborns who are struggling, for severe pneumonia, for heart failure, and other cases! At this same time, my wife’s aunt in Texas had two oxygen concentrators – one at her home and another at the home of her daughter. [America: the Land of Plenty]
I haven’t even gotten into needed supplies for proper surgery – with all the instruments and other supplies. Trying to “make do” without proper instruments is like trying to change spark plugs without a spark plug wrench. And like surgery perhaps it can be done – but with difficulty, not well, and often with complications. When I first started doing skin grafts for burns in Africa, it was awful – “whittling” off skin with a knife, little pieces at a time. Then I received a dermatome from America [instrument for taking off large sections of skin with the proper thickness] – the difference was like ‘daylight and dark’.
Proper medical care is all about having proper SUPPLIES, SUPPLIES, SUPPLIES!! “The Malawi Project” is about sending supplies, medical and other, to needed areas. I can totally attest to the phenomenal needs that exist in developing countries. The resulting gratitude of the recipients is overwhelming and most humbling. Those of us with plenty should give to those who have little!
Frank Black, M.D.,
Medical Missionary to Tanzania, Africa for 5 years, and short term
medical mission work in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, Guyana and Honduras.