Recent Articles
Nyaya Health:
Improving Healthcare in Western Nepal
The clinic building is ideally located: it sits above the flood plain, at the end of the only paved road leading into Achham. It was originally a 1200 square foot grain shed. But it was structurally sound, and the owner was agreeable to its transformation. On April 7, 2008 the former grain shed doors opened as a new clinic with a delivery suite, pharmacy, counseling room, procedure room, laboratory and storage room. . . more
Dr. Lanny Smith and Doctors for Global Health
For Dr. Lanny Smith, the pivotal moment came when he traveled to Nicaragua in 1985 with a peacemaking group and volunteered with Habitat for Humanity. In a "life-changing experience," Dr. Smith lived with a Nicaraguan family and experienced firsthand the living conditions of poor Nicaraguans, as well as the political climate. "We heard gunfire every day. . ." more
Book Excerpt:
The New Humanitarians:
Inspiration, Innovations and Blueprints for Visionaries
Welcome to a trip around the world. You will travel to six continents, led by men and women of various ages and backgrounds. Be warned, you may go to some fairly desperate places, but they all have a seed of hope. You will not be traveling as a tourist, but rather as an activist with more than three dozen organizations —- each one incredible. . . . more
Danielle Butin: Following Her Signposts to Improving Global Healthcare
In February, duffel bags filled with supplies went with a surgical mission to New Delhi, and sutures were sent to Liberia to support Physicians for Peace in their efforts at cleft palate repair. On March 13, the first 40-foot container of unused medical supplies left for Haiti to support the work of Partners in Health. . . . more
Jeff Solheim, RN, Penny Edwards, and Project Helping Hands
The luckier groups wake up at four in the morning to stand in line. Others arrive after walking for two days. They all come to receive free health care or dental work, and they all leave after being treated by a physician, nurse, or dentist. More importantly, they walk away with an education. . . . more
Doing More with Less:
Dr. Emily Dow and Doctors of the World in Chiapas, Mexico
The partnership between DOW and the Hospital San Carlos in Altamirano, Chiapas, began in 1994 when the Zapatista uprising led to the mass departure of local healthcare workers in response to the unrest and violence. Nearly half of the citizens in Chiapas are indigenous Mayan, and a quarter of the population does not speak Spanish. With a history of neglect and discrimination, this community already suffered from high rates of malnutrition, maternal mortality, and tuberculosis. . . . more
Treating a Stealthy Killer:
Hep B Free at the Pacific Free Clinic
Beginning with only free screening and counseling, the clinic has been an unqualified success. It now offers a full range of free services, from screening to immunizations to treatment referral and follow-up care. All are dedicated to providing education and care to this underserved community. . . more
Medical Teams International and the Mobile Dental Program
Over 600 students fill the classrooms of Vose Elementary School, in Beaverton, Oregon, a diverse student body in a district where 61 different languages are represented. But there is one issue that unites many of the students -- lack of dental care. And so, on a cold winter day, students venture outside to a large Winnebago in the school parking lot. . . . more
Jill Ginsberg, MD, and the North by Northeast Community Health Center
Like people all over the US, many residents of Oregon lack medical insurance. They often skimp on or skip entirely the medication they need, and they use the emergency room when their symptoms can no longer be ignored. Fortunately for the people in north and northeast Portland, Oregon, Dr. Jill Ginsberg is motivated by her faith and inspired by her mentors to serve the uninsured and underserved. . . . more
Serle Epstein, MD, and the Mission Clinic of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Ecuador
Perhaps it was serendipity. Perhaps it was how God answered the Padre's prayers. Perhaps it was just meant to be. . . . more
Sam has traveled to parts of China with the greatest burden of hepatitis B to provide catch up doses for children. In partnership with student interns and support of the local government, Sam was able to immunize over 100,000 preschool- and kindergarten-aged children with the entire hepatitis B series. . . more
Like many kids her age, four-year old Alex Scott set up a lemonade stand in her front yard to earn some extra money. What sets Alex apart from her peers is that she did not want to spend the money on some new toy. Rather, she planned to donate the proceeds from her lemonade sales to "her hospital" to help her doctors find a cure for childhood cancer. . . . more
FOCOS: World-Class Orthopedist Brings the Caring Home
. . . And then, in the mid-1990s, Boachie-Adjei went home, but not alone. He brought along an entire orthopedic team. Using his own money for startup costs, Boachie-Adjei established a foundation providing orthopedic spine services to people in Ghana, Barbados and other countries unable to afford adequate medical care. . . . more
Something to Smile About:
Drs. Jim Cecil and M. Raynor Mullins and Seal Kentucky
"A child cannot grow, learn, or develop at a normal rate if they have these types of problems. That's where we get our sense of mission. . . . "more
Dr. Mark Kline and the Baylor International Pediatric AIDS Initiative
Together with modern drug therapy, Dr. Kline wanted to bring simple procedural changes into the clinics and healthful social changes in their communities. . . . more
Kisumu Medical and Education Trust of Kenya
K-MET workers make sure to empower the community. They involve them in family planning, community-based service, distribute contraceptives and educate the community. . . . more
The Least of These:
Lackey Free Family Medicine Clinic
The Lackey Free Clinic provides primary health care, chronic disease management, and counseling to an average of 1000 individuals per year, all available at no cost to patients. . . more
When You're Smilin': Kathy Majette, RN, and Operation Smile
"I wish everybody had the chance to have the feeling -- that feeling when the parents see their child for the first time. The doors open, the parents run, everybody else in the ward runs, just to get a look at that child. . . it's just so exciting. It never gets old."more
Book Excerpt: They Called Them Angels: American Military Nurses of World War II
"He said he was just under 18, but he didn't look more than 16. His ship sunk, a tanker I think, and there was flaming oil everywhere. He was a mass of scars, and some of his fingers were burned off. Most of his body was burned. He was the most pathetic thing you ever saw, but it didn't make me sick because I knew I could talk to him and the other patients would crack jokes with him."more
Samaritans in Ohio:
The Samaritan Homeless Clinic
Tucked into the cozy Midwest, famous for Buckeye football and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Ohio seems like an unlikely place to confront homelessness.. . . . more
How We Value a Life:
Doctors' Attitudes Make a Difference
I remember hearing my words translated into Bambara for a woman who does not exist any more. On that day in my memory, that woman, dressed in black, held a boy child in her lap. . . . more
Healthcare Missions Take Flight: Flying Doctors of America
Try envisioning a group of volunteer healthcare professionals who gather up their supplies, pack up a donated private airplane, and head to a prison in Bolivia to provide healthcare to more than 1200 children who accompany their imprisoned parents in jail. . . . more
Book Excerpt: There Is No Me Without You
"Who was going to raise twelve million children? That's what I suddenly wanted to know. There were days that Donny and I thought we'd be driven insane by five children."more
Sharing Pediatric HIV Experience with the Third World: Philip LaRussa, MD, and Andrea Jurgrau, CPNP
"After you've been driving for two or three hours in the countryside, the first thing you see is all this white. You can't figure out what it is until you get close. It's all the little white crosses for the kids that have died."more
Saving Lives in Massachusetts: Barbara McGovern and the Treatment of HIV and Hepatitis C in Prison
For women who are in prison for a long period of time who receive the "right things" -- good psychiatric care, good medical care, frequent communication with the case manager -- there can be positive connections with people, and potentially these patients can turn around their lives. . . . more
Caring for AIDS Orphans: Jane Aronson and the Worldwide Orphans Foundation
One of the most tragic aspects of the global HIV epidemic affects those left behind. These are the orphans of parents who died from AIDS, or children abandoned because their parents were too sick to care for them.
Hepatitis C in Prison: An Interview with Dr. Rena Fox
"We should take patients as they are, without the stigma of prison."
Antismoking Advocate for the World: Dr. Judith Longstaff Mackay
"One of the three most dangerous people in the world!"
Orphan Rangers
Most children in Chinese orphanages are abandoned anonymously and nothing is known of their background. Many of the children were dressed to cover as much skin as possible and hide unsightly rashes from prospective parents.
Angels in Our Midst
Making a Home for Homeless Women
Dr. Roseanna Means addresses issues relevant to homeless women in Boston, which include the threat of violence, sexual abuse, and child-care responsibilities.
Summer Camp for Children With Heart Disease
Starting from scratch, a physician and nurse built a free camp so that children with heart disease can experience the joys of being a child.
The best way to provide healthcare to adolescents may be to bring it to them.
Training Villagers to Become Healthcare Workers
Improved healthcare in underdeveloped countries starts with education.
How can you get unused HIV meds from the Bronx to Guatemala?
Angels on the Web
Free Flight for Patients in Need
Pilots donate time and money for free air travel on private aircraft for the poor or those too ill for regular flights.
GAIA VF Newsletter
The Global Alliance to Immunize Against AIDS Vaccine Foundation (GAIA VF) is a Rhode Island-based non-profit organization. Its mission is to promote the development of a globally relevant, globally accessible HIV vaccine that will be distributed on a not-for-profit basis in the developing world. http://www.gaiavaccine.org/
GAIA Vaccine Foundation Summer Newsletter
And so, in answer to that question -- what can we do do, faced with the great disparities in care that exist between our
own experience and Africa?
590K Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file 
GAIA Vaccine Foundation Summer Newsletter, part 2
In the summer of 2004, with six donated laptops and a donated copy of the LabTracker Software system, GAIA volunteer Jared Meshekow traveled to Mali take part in a pilot program to implement LabTracker. . .
2565K Adobe Acrobat (pdf) file
"Love is a rain of diamonds in the mind. . ."
from Love is a Rain of Diamonds, by May Swenson
set to music by Vermont composer Gwyneth Walker as part of her Songs for Women's Voices