The Madagascar Medical Safari (MMS) is a joint operation between MAF Madagascar and HoverAid. Its aim: to enable healthcare and development projects in communities where chronic poverty and malnutrition are prevalent.
MAF and Hoveraid operate together where there are no roads; where rivers are too shallow for boats; and where walking for a week to reach a doctor is normal.
Corina de Waal, a qualified nurse and community health worker, and wife of MAF's new programme manager in Madagascar, flew to Beroroha to join the MMS team. She reports on the experience:
I joined the team of doctors and went to villages with no access to healthcare. I was amazed that the patients were already waiting to see the doctor before we arrived .
I was overwhelmed to see the needs and poverty of the people. They don’t have access to any doctor at all, so days such as these are their only hope for treatment.
The doctors worked very hard from early in the morning till late in the evening. Cases included: tumours; teeth problems; breathing difficulties; and dirty wounds. The surgeon successfully operated on a 12-year old boy with a cleft lip, and on a man who had suffered for years with a hernia.
Many problems are brought on by neglected injuries or wounds. The lack of access to even the most basic health care is causing this. The regular return of the MMS teams is therefore a necessity.
For some patients treatment wasn’t possible. That felt very hard. A 15 year old boy had symptoms of diabetes. Without special tools it wasn’t possible to make an accurate diagnosis and give him the right medicine. In spite of this, the doctors did many complicated operations under improvised conditions and we were able to help more than 300 people.
A pastor on the team helped those needing spiritual or mental assistance, and also preached the Gospel.
It was a very special experience for me: to live and work in the bush; take a shower in the river; use a simply made latrine; and work in a very difficult environment. The work we did with this team was so wonderful!