By Nancy Devine
January 31, 2000
Photos Courtesy of Loni-Kaye "Lonzena" Harkless

On Dec. 1, 1999, Jerome Griffin, PhD, executive director of the Economic Development Foundation in Los Angeles, returned from a trip to Ghana as part of Project Africa Medical Relief Mission to aid Liberian refugees. He and eight healthcare workers provided medical care to 1,000 refugees in just four days. Despite working sunup to sundown in a small cement room, he can’t wait to go back.

The volunteer physicians and nurses administered emergency medical relief to Liberians in the Buduburam refugee camp near Accra, Ghana. More than 50,000 Liberians fled their country during its 10-year civil war, and many now live in camps in nearby Ghana.

"We saw 1,000 people and treated 800," Griffin said. "Most of them hadn’t seen a doctor in three or four years, and some had lived there for eight years. There’s a tremendous need for assistance."

Griffin’s team included Erik Fleischman, MD; Shawn Dillon, DDS; T.W. Harris, MD; Janice Sivard, RN; Anna Hallowanger, RN; and Anita Williams, RN. Lonzena Harkless served as a volunteer counselor and support person.

Foundation formation

Griffin organized the Economic Development Foundation to provide humanitarian assistance to developing Africa. After completing postdoctoral work at the University of Ghana, Griffin met Fleischman, who conducted HIV/AIDS and emergency medical training for refugees. Griffin also worked with the Liberian Women’s Association , another group assisting refugees. "They asked me to come back to help the community, and that was the impetus for the whole project," Griffin said. "I’ve been back 12 times."

In 1998, Griffin and his colleagues spent $20,000 of their own resources to set up the foundation and made their first trip under the umbrella of Project Africa. For the latest trip, the St. Luke Medical Foundation, Ward African Methodist Episcopal and First African Methodist Episcopal churches, Los Angeles City Councilman Mark Ridley-Thomas, music executive Clarence Avant, the Roger and Sheryl Reeves family, and the Economic Development Foundation donated $10,000 for medicine and supplies. The team also collected $50,000 worth of HIV/AIDS medicine from private donors.

Refugee needs

"We found malaria, typhoid, tuberculosis, malnutrition, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, osteoporosis, and infections," Griffin said.

Sivard helped treat malaria and many gastrointestinal problems, and assisted with several surgeries to remove keloids, cysts, and abscesses. "Without plumbing, the conditions are very unsanitary, so we treated everything," said Sivard, a private consultant specializing in developmental disabilities. "We used bottled water and generators. The doctors had brought their scalpels and antibiotics, and we did our best. We ate our lunch off the trunk of a car, standing up."

Despite the conditions, Sivard felt safe and enthused. "The people were so warm and so grateful for everything we did," she said. "I never heard a child cry or fuss, never saw a piece of graffiti. It was so rewarding. This was a chance to get back to pure nursing, with no paperwork. I consider it one of the highlights of my career and I hope to go again."

Harkless spoke to female refugees on a bench and walked among them. "We had an AIDS physician, so I counseled them on how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases, how to control their lives by not having more babies, and I provided condoms," said Harkless, a volunteer involved with the BaHa’i faith. "It was the most humbling experience I’ve ever had. I gave away all the money plus a 50-pound box of candy I brought with me. Medicine helps, but they need money for food."

Griffin’s team also visited Monrovia, Liberia, despite warnings to stay away because of possible warfare. "We saw a need there just as great or even greater than in Ghana," Griffin said. "That’s why we need to go back." He’s planning the foundation’s next trip in May, with a 20-member team and more supplies.

"Our trip was a success, but I think all of us, physicians and nurses, came away wishing we could do more for these people," Sivard said. "We’d like to restore just one of the operating rooms to full capacity in Monrovia’s JFK Hospital. At this point, the hospital—the whole city—is riddled with bullet holes and bomb craters. They haven’t had electricity since 1990, and they were hoping to restore it for Christmas Eve. They need help so they can treat their people and rebuild their lives."