Squinting through ti leaf-infused steam wafting from the glowing imu, I could make out the silhouette of a young, muscular man lifting turkeys into the cooking pit. Since he was a toddler, my son and I have been a part of the local Thanksgiving ritual at the Key Project. This year the close-knit community came together to bury and bake 500 turkeys through the night and hand them back to families for the Thanksgiving feast.
Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because it is the one day that celebrates giving and receiving. During Thanksgiving last year my son and I went on a solo medical mission. We took a helicopter and medical supplies from Kathmandu, Nepal, to a remote region of the Himalayas to care for Tibetans without access to health services. People benefit emotionally and spiritually through the act of giving, according to Dr. Bradley Wong, a retired surgeon and president of the Aloha Medical Mission.
AMM is a secular, nonprofit volunteer organization based in Honolulu which provides health care services and supports the social welfare of underserved people in Hawaii and the Asia-Pacific region.
In Hawaii, AMM operates the only free dental clinic and helps those who lack insurance or do not have the financial resources to afford basic dental care. AMM also coordinates a collaboration of two Oahu hospitals, private surgeons and private anesthesiologists who provide free outpatient surgical care to the indigent.
Off-island, AMM sends teams of doctors and nurses to medically underserved countries that work with local organizations and hospitals to address the health needs of people who suffer from poverty and poor access to care.
This week, 29 volunteers from the U.S. just returned from Kathmandu, Nepal. On the team were 12 anesthesiologists and surgeons, 10 nurses, one family physician, one dentist and five assistants. After arriving in Kathmandu they braved the chaos of the domestic airport to fly to Bhiratnagar. After another three hours of jeep travel on winding mountain roads, they arrived at the ridge-top town of Dhankuta, 5,000 feet above sea level.
Dhankuta township in Nepal is a typical village of 6,000-7,000 people, mostly poor farmers. It has one hospital with 50 beds and one operating room, but there are no surgeons to perform any procedures. The nearest full treatment medical center is in Dharan, a two-hour bus ride away. This is little consolation, however, as most of the population is too poor to pay for medical care, much less for emergency medical care. As in most developing countries, the access to basic surgical care is extremely limited by poverty, the lack of roads and proper transportation and the lack of surgical facilities and personnel.
In nine days of operation the team performed 145 major surgical procedures, 288 minor procedures and 246 dental procedures. All this was done on a budget of $5,000 at no charge to the patients. The team also distributed 46 prostheses without charge to hand amputees. Most of these patients, children and adults, suffered work-related injuries, while some lost their hands to burns or other trauma. Nepali fitters were trained, and prosthetic hands will continue to be provided. This work is being done in cooperation with the Ellen Meadows Hand Prosthesis Foundation in Los Angeles, which provides a low-cost, state-of-the-art hand prosthesis for free to patients around the world. So far, more than 8,000 hands have been distributed by the Foundation.
Although medical volunteers use their own funds for airfare and accommodation while working on medical missions, AMM still has to raise $400,000 per year to maintain its current level of activity. To see options for making a donation, contact AMM at AlohaMedicalMission.org Opens in a new tab.
Whether we come together to bake turkeys in an imu for the community or travel abroad to provide new prosthetic hands to poor amputees, the act of giving enriches all concerned.
Ira Zunin, M.D., M.P.H., M.B.A., is medical director of Manakai o Malama Integrative Healthcare Group and Rehabilitation Center and CEO of Global Advisory Services Inc. Please submit your questions to info@manakaiomalama.com.
