Issue no 2, 2000 -- English edition -- home
Page: -- Contents -- 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, (7), 8
For 19 periods of varying length since 1989, surgeon Carl-Axel Ekman, from Borås, Sweden, has worked at the hospitals in Garissa and Wajir. This is in the hot, northeastern province of Kenya, mostly desert or semi-arid, with a largely nomadic population. In January of 2001, he goes out again with his wife Monica Ekman, who has worked as dentist for 13 periods. Both have in addition taught both in Garissa and at the university hospital in Eldoret.
They have therefore written many reports, and in the latest for January-March 2000, one can detect some words of disappointment.
That's as it may be, but not more than they immediately on their return applied to go there again in January, 2001.
Their report starts by noting that the living conditions have improved somewhat compared to the three most recent years, when the entire province got either too little or too much rain. The lack of clean water is still a great problem. Their own drinking water, they had to get directly from the Tana, the river that runs through Garissa. In addition, the electricity often didn't work. This meant that they had to sit in the dark in the evenings, couldn't use the electric stove, or the electric fans that make it a bit easier to stand the heat. Garissa is one of the hottest places in the world.
Given these conditions, it is very hard to recruit competent Kenyan doctors, and Carl-Axel Ekman emphasizes how important it is that the Doctor Bank continues to send surgeons and other specialists to Garissa. Efforts to improve the situation continue however. Among other things, it has been possible to replace old and rusty beds, and to install fans in one ward.
The surgical activities were as usual intensive, and dentist Monica had each day her small reception filled with patients. Outside the hospital, the Ekmans helped run a home with school for 40 orphaned girls.
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Maryan can now walk 300 meters using crutches. |
Maryan has, as we have described in previous issues of the newsletter, had polio and is totally paralysed in both legs. Thanks to surgery, bandaging and rehabilitation, she can now walk 300 meters using crutches. She has also been helped with her schooling. Thanks to Rotary funding continued education in computer sciences, she can look forward to a decent future.
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The daily Arbetet devoted the entire middle spread to a detailed article about the Doctor Bank from its start in 1988. |
During the year from 1 May 1999, 56 Swedish newspapers wrote about the Doctor Bank, including the major metropolitan and national newspapers (Dagens Nyheter, Göteborgs-Posten, Expressen GT, Sydsvenska Dagbladet and Arbetet). A large proportion of the regional newspapers, from Umeå in the north to Ystad in the south, took up the Doctor Bank in several articles.
Newspaper "tipster" is Lars Lindström, one of the voluntaries in the Doctor Bank office. At the recent doctor convention in Holsbybrunn, clippings with these articles covered five large screens. This was a much-appreciated initiative, not least by the doctors who had been interviewed on their return from Africa. Editorial staffs at the newspapers of course find it both exciting and interesting to write about the Doctor Bank, Rotary and the Eric's Help.
In Malmö, Sweden, golf gives large contributions to the Doctor Bank. Åke Ohlsson, Malmö-Oxie RC, collects Rotary golfers for a yearly championship:
"The purpose of our championship is to raise, under agreeable forms, funds for the Rotary Doctor Bank, and to proclaim Malmö's best Rotary club in golf."
Last year, the contribution to the Doctor Bank was 11,950 Crowns - this year it reached …
A tip for all Rotary golfers!