(PORTLAND, ORE. - Aug. 28, 2007) Medical Teams International is rushing aid to help thousands of Peruvians camped in makeshift shelters following last week's powerful earthquake.
Partnering with the Peruvian government and a local church, Medical Teams International (formerly Northwest Medical Teams) is providing urgently needed water, housing assistance, blankets and two local nurses. The aid will go directly to a camp near Pisco where 2,800 people are waiting for clean water, shelter and medical care.
Last week, Medical Teams International sent critically needed medicines and supplies valued at $1 million to Peru. The relief agency also funded the rental of a local helicopter to help distribute the medicines in Pisco and Chincha, two communities particularly hard hit by the disaster. The supplies, sent in cooperation with MAP International, include antibiotics, bandages and sutures.
Medical Teams International Relief Workers Battling Deadly Outbreak in Bangladesh
Dave Seabrook, a volunteer EMS/firefighter from Vancouver, Wash., and Dr. Wendy Dyment, a Medical Teams International emergency health specialist, are in Bangladesh today, providing mobile medical care for people affected by torrential floods. These floods have now led to deadly disease outbreaks.
Aid to flood victims has also been hampered by a 24-hour curfew implemented last week to curb violence in Bangladesh's capital city. "Sick people could not leave their homes to get medical help," explains Joe DiCarlo, director of emergency relief at Medical Teams International. "The result has been a deadly spike in diarrheal diseaseĀa condition that has already reached outbreak proportions in the region."
The medical team, which includes a volunteer doctor and nurse from the Seattle area, carried in $21,000 in medical supplies.
Medical Teams International is working with Koinonia, an aid agency in Bangladesh that oversees a major hospital and three clinics in the region. A second volunteer team with Medical Teams International is planning to go to the region in the following weeks.
To contribute to the Peru Earthquake Fund or the South Asia Flood Fund, please call 1-800-959-8325, give online at our secure Web site: www.medicalteams.org or mail gifts to PO Box 10, Portland, OR 97207. Donations can also be made at any US Bank office.
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
