Approximately 100 miles north of Baghdad near Tuz, Iraq, Major Joel Meyer and the "Golden Dragons," 1-14th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division, work to improve the services that a hospital and 14 health clinics can give to Iraqi citizens across 50 towns and villages.
"Conditions in village clinics are so inferior to that which U.S. citizens are accustomed; it would be unfathomable to receive medical treatment there," wrote Meyer, posted on www.AnySoldier.us/otherefforts. "Yet it is all the Iraqi people currently have. Rebuilding will undoubtedly take many years."
Approximately 2,230 miles away, Mary Elko and the Northern Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners have tried to make a difference. "What we send won't make a dent into what is needed," Elko said, "but hopefully it's appreciated."
LAST MONTH, the council of nurse practitioners sent 900 pounds of medical supplies — 33 boxes — to assist American troops and Iraqi physicians and nurses in caring for Iraqi citizens. "Although they may lack supplies, they do not lack courage and resourcefulness when it comes to health care," Elko said.
Groups across the country have also contributed to these efforts, according to Elko.
Meyer asked Dr. Farhan, of Iraq, whether contributions have been beneficial.
"You see the primitive things we have. The right things are right for all of humanity," Farhan told Meyer, now posted on the website. "For 35 years we have been denied all of this."
In addition to numerous medical supplies, textbooks and journals, the Northern Virginia Council of Nurse Practitioners send more than 72 beanie babies to cheer sick or injured Iraqi children and 53 boxes of Girl Scout cookies for American troops.
High Performance Technologies, Inc., of Reston, provided initial funding for shipping the first round of supplies, according to Elko.
<1b>— Ken Moore