wfn.org | A year after fleeing, doctor plans return to war-torn Sierra

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

Leone

Sept. 8, 1998        Contact: Linda Bloom*(212)870-3803*New York
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NOTE: A photograph is available with this story.

By United Methodist News Service

A West African physician forced by civil war to leave his United
Methodist-supported clinic will return to Sierra Leone in mid-September.

Dennis Marke, medical director of the Kissy United Methodist Church
Health and Maternity center in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, said he
is excited about his Sept. 16 departure for that country. 

"I see the need for my service," he said.

Besides resuming his medical practice, Marke will institute new medical
and nutrition programs for women and children still suffering from the
war's effects. The Kissy Clinic is a joint medical ministry of the
Sierra Leone United Methodist Annual Conference and the North and South
Indiana annual conferences.
 
Marke and his wife, Manja, were forced to flee the clinic on May 26,
1997, the first day of a coup that has since left the country
devastated. The couple took a boat to Gambia, where they remained as
refugees until last September. They then came to the United States,
where Mrs. Marke continued pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing at
the University of Indianapolis.
 
While in Indiana, Marke directed the work of the clinic by telephone and
through fax messages. His communication with the clinic staff, as well
as information from news stories, made him realize that malnutrition and
its related diseases had become a severe problem.
 
The doctor has developed a project directed at improving the nutritional
health of pregnant women and children. "I'm going to base the project
mainly on locally available foodstuff," he explained.

For example, the project will teach how dried fish, ground nuts and rice
can be cooked together for a high-protein diet.
 
Marke plans to provide a high-energy diet and instruction to 50 women
and 50 children during a two-month period. They will be selected from
existing patients and evaluated to determine their level of
malnutrition. Clinic staff also will treat any accompanying diseases.
 
After a written evaluation, considered by the Sierra Leone Annual
Conference's medical committee, a second group will receive instruction
and treatment from Jan. 1 through March 31, 1999.

Marke said he expects to phase some patients out of the project as they
improve, allowing new people to be added.
 
The doctor also plans to develop an outreach ministry to the camps for
people displaced by the fighting. The program will provide health
education, family planning, immunization, and basic treatment. 

# # # 

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/