Clean Water in Bangladesh

The Paul Carlson Medical Ambassadors have already carried out their first project, and it was an emergency case.

Marta Klein is a physician assistant, an ECC missionary in Congo, and a member of the PCP medical strategy team. On Sept. 9 Marta awoke to find many of her possessions gone. During the night a thief had broken into her home — one side of a duplex house in Karawa, where she is based at the hospital. Her medical bag was taken, with all her instruments in it. Her notebook computer was gone, of course, as well as some other personal possessions. Even a solar panel!

Marta Klein

As soon as the news came, several members of the Ambassadors came together to contribute the funds needed to replace the medical items and her computer. The World Mission office of the ECC agreed to replace the personal things.

With some fast work by Roger Thorpe (volunteer) and Ryan Einfeldt (staff), the most urgent medical things and the computer were acquired and delivered to the PCP offices. In addition, Marta had asked, just a short time before this, if someone could donate four sets of surgical instruments for Karawa hospital. One member of the Ambassadors had heard about that and donated all four sets.

Roger Thorpe came over to our offices and packed two large trunks full to the brim with the combined medical items. A small group was to go on a vision trip to Congo, led by Karen Hallberg of World Mission, leaving Sept. 25. So, barely two weeks after the theft, most of Marta’s replacement items were on their way. The remaining medical items, which didn’t arrive in time for the trunks, are now in hand and will be taken by another World Mission staff person, leaving in the next few days.

On Oct. 5 Marta wrote by email, “Please pass along my immense gratitude to the PCP staff and to all the Medical Ambassadors who were involved in this gift.” Another thanks came from ECC missionary Sheryl Noren, who works at Karawa with Marta. In an email on Oct. 11 she wrote, “Thank you for all the hospital items you sent. We really had fun sorting through everything. All was appreciated. Dr. Valerie [director of Karawa hospital] will be coming over tomorrow to see and inventory all the medical items that were sent in the trunks. Again, thank you so much. She was very happy to know that everything arrived safely.”

We’re off to a good start! Thanks to all who were involved!

(See the article “A Congolese Superfood,” published earlier in this blog, about Marta’s project to grow moringa for treating malnourished children. The photo here shows her sifting dried crushed moringa leaves.)

SAJ   20 Oct 2011