CORSO TEAMS IN GREECE

Chronicle (Levin), 24 June 1946, Page 2

CORSO TEAMS IN GREECE

CONSTRUCTIVE WORK IN MACEDONIA One of tlie moKt valuunle jobs the Corso Publie Health Team v.orking in Macedonia is doing is the scttiug up of clinics in out of the wav villages wlvic.h have not seeu a doctor oi- niirsi for years. Xow, with carefu-1 organis iug and distribution of su|iplies, it is estiniated that nianv hundreds of sick and undernourished villag.-rs are re cciving- medical attentiou. It rcpresenth a niinimum, but at least it is sornething they did not have before. j An outline of some of tlie problenm involvecl is contained in a letter from ! Mr. J. A. Home, Administrative ' Otticer with the unit, recently received : at Corso headquarters, Wellington. |f'You need no ealling cards in tlie.se I villages, 1 ' w rites .Ma'.- Home.. f',The truck stops in a eonvenient spot, you get out and wait a minute or two, and then the president and the teacher and the priest are pushing their wa\ through the inevitable crowd of child ren. These seem healthv enough; a bit tliiu of course (they always are), and their clothes are pitiful. We go to the teacher 's hotise, tlie maps are spread out on the bed nnd the schenie is ex[ilained to them. They. listen eagerly and sooii are full of suggestions. We select and discard various villages, aceording to their accessahility and find we have a total of eight with an approximate population of 550U for our clinie to serve. This gives us soiu« idea of the quantities of supplies w.will need to start the elinic going. ; Atabrine tablets, aceording to the in 1 cideuce of malaria, sulphur ointment for scabios, ointments of the sulphanila niide family for other ailments, buinjages, eottonwool. dressings and iodine : and aspirin. Other items rccommended . bv the medical teaui will be imduded. The team will only be able to call there i twice each nionth, so we need someoue to train in first aid and simple dis ' pensing and nursing, with a view to leaving them, autoinatically. in charge I of the clinie. We eliose the teacher 's i wifo and the 17-year-old daughter of the priest. Now we need a supervising committee, and thc obvious choice :s the president, the teacher and the priest. 1 explain their duties. They nod gravely but loolc surprised when I caution them against selling any supplies on the black markct. "A brief resume of the scheme to niake certain that they~ understand what we are jilanning, and (iually i give the assembly a fatherly talk. A meet ing like this will start privntely with yourself, the interprcter, the president. the teacher and the priest, but before you have finished and sonieliow without you noticing the room is

filled with most of the villnge elders and oue or two -others. All of thcse, properly orgauised and encopraged, can do jnore than is realised to get the country headed in the riglit directiou again, at least as. far as their medical services are concerned. ' ' To maintain the teams of workers in Greeee and to organise similar teams of doctors and -nurses for China, Corso is appealing to the publie for funds. Donations should be addressed to Corso, Wellington.