Jill DeVore to Speak at Drake University
Jill DeVore, co-founder of Medicine for Mali, will
give a talk about the challenges and rewards of working in the
developing world, specifically in the francophone African country
of Mali.
For the past seven years, Des Moines-based Medicine for
Mali has provided life-saving medical services, development
aid, public health services and education opportunities for
a remote community of 8,000 people living in one of the world’s
poorest countries.
The talk will include an excerpt from an award-winning film
about MFM’s activities in Mali and a Q&A session. The
program will last about one hour.
Location: Meredith Hall at Drake University
Tuesday,
April 8th at 7:30 pm.
MFM
Inspired Film Wins International Award
(March 10, 2008)
This African Life, a new film by Lisa Thompson, follows Sokona Keita,
a seven year old girl in one of the villages MFM serves, on a tour of her community.
The documentary opens a window into the life and struggles of
women and children in one of the world's poorest nations. Lisa's film is the
winner of the International Womens Day Film Festival's Breakthrough Award
for Emerging Filmaker. Click
here to visit
the film's
website.
The Road
to Timbuktu begins in Des Moines
(September 20, 2007)
On September 22nd, Des Moines-based Medicine for Mali will
launch its 17th trip to deliver medical assistance to the
impoverished country of Mali in West Africa.
Mission
#17 Featured on KCCI
(September 20, 2007)
Read the featured news story and watch the interview of Dr.
DeVore video featured on KCCI.
Des Moines University
Public Health Team Departs for Mali to Assess Success of
Nutrition Plan
(June
2007)
A combined team of Medicine for Mali volunteers and candidates in the Des Moines
University Master of Public Health program has embarked on a two week trip
to Mali to review the effects of a nutrition program put into place in 2005. Their
efforts will focus on assessing the changes in malnutrition rates of children
under five in the villages where the program has been implemented. Previous
assessments indicated that the malnutrition rate decreased from over 40% to
20%.
The program is based on a positive deviance model which focuses
on delivering sustainable, culturally appropriate and local solutions to problems. MFM
incorporates training and volunteerism into the program which in turn empowers
the villagers and ensures continued success.
For more information about the positive deviance approach, go
to http://www. positivedeviance.org/.
Dr. Steven DeVore Returns from Latest
Medical Mission to Mali
(June 2007)
The Executive Director of Medicine for Mali, Steven DeVore, D.O.,
FAAFP, has just returned from an extended medical trip to Mali which included
an ophthalmology surgical fellowship. Glaucoma, trauma, worms and cataracts
are all treatable conditions; but in a country like Mali with only one eye
surgeon per million people, they become devastating and debilitating illnesses.
Dr. DeVore helped to establish seven new outreach optical surgical clinics
as well as performed ophthalmologic surgical procedures, many of which were
paid for by Medicine for Mali.
For information from the World Health Organization about blindness
and eye disease in the developing world, please visit http://www.who.int/blindness/causes/priority/en/index1.html
1st Annual Medicine for Mali Golf Tournament Fundraiser
(May 2007)
The
first annual “Medicine for Mali Golf Tournament” was held
at Lakeview Golf and Country Club in Chariton, IA on May 19th. Mollie
James, D.O. and her family; Suzi, Gary and Nick James, spearheaded the tournament
as a part of their fundraising activities for Medicine for Mali. Dr.
James has a special connection to MFM, having participated in the MFM 2006
medical trip as her internship experience for her Master of Pubic Health at
Des Moines University. During the trip, Dr. James saw medical patients at the
clinic and was the first American to perform surgery in the village of Nana
Kaneiba. Seven surgeries were completed, with no reported complications
and all patients are doing well. “It was so rewarding to care for
patients from Mali—although we had very limited resources, we used them
efficiently and were able to save a number of lives. The gratitude of
the people is very touching. If people in America could see the conditions
the Malians live in every day, they would feel obligated to donate skills,
supplies, and money to help make the world a better place.”
News Archive
2004 Annual Update
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