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UNE students raise money for African doctors
By DINA MENDROS
Staff Writer
BIDDEFORD-Many doctors from Africa leave their homes after completing school to make more money elsewhere, according to a non-profit organization in Providence, R.I.
That group has stepped up to stop this African "brain drain" in four of the poorest countries on the African continent, and some University of New England students are helping the effort.
On Sunday, 37 people, including UNE medical students, staff and several doctors from Maine Medical Center in Portland, took part in a 44-mile relay ultra-marathon.
They hope to raise $3,000 to donate to the Adopt A Doctor organization.
Adopt A Doctor supplements the salaries of 18 medical doctors in Liberia, Mali, Sierra Leone and Malawi, said Joseph Phommasith, a spokesman for the organization. Thousands of people in those countries die each year, he said, from easily treatable diseases.
It doesn't take a lot to make a big difference, he said.
Just doubling a physician's salary, from about $60 to $120 a month, provides enough of an incentive for many doctors to remain in their home countries and provide needed care, said Phommasith.
Annually, the organization takes in about $30,000, through fundraisers and donations, said Phommasith. All the money raised goes directly to physicians, he said, and all the staff members volunteer their
time.
Seven teams completed the 44-mile relay, with each person running a leg of the trek between UNE's Biddeford campus to Kennebunkport and back.
Caity Hamilton, a first-year medical student at UNE, ran six miles. She said she was happy to take part in the marathon, running along "a beautiful beach for a good cause."
UNE medical students have helped raise money for Adopt A Doctor for the past five years, said UNE medical student Jeremy Wright, who was coordinating this year's marathon. That's when Ray Rickman, the founder of the organization, came to speak at the school.
"He told us about the problem of the brain drain in Africa," said Wright. UNE medical students have been conducting fundraisers for the organization ever since.
"Our partnership with...the University of New England is crucial to our ability to support 18 medical doctors," stated Rickman. "The student-organized marathon is evidence that we can make a positive
difference in people's lives through fun and creative ways."
-Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext.324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
