Medical team embarks on mission

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake pharmacist Dr. Lateef Olaniyan hadn’t been back to his birthplace in Nigeria in 30 years.

When he went back in 2007 to register as a pharmacist, he was not prepared for what he found. He saw poorly equipped, understaffed hospitals and hundreds of people suffering from untreated ailments.

Along with friend and pharmacist Ken George, Olaniyan helped as many residents as he could, but it wasn’t enough. The men came back to the United States with a mission.

“I saw the poor health conditions of the people there and the discrepancy between their health care services and the services we offer here,” Olaniyan said. “There was so much need. I decided to do something.”

Olaniyan and George talked to government officials and congressmen in Nigeria. After a few meetings, the pharmacists were given permission to form a multidisciplinary medical mission team to offer aid in the country.

The Moses Lake Medical Team was established in 2008. The long-term goal is to improve the health and well-being of individuals and communities in developing countries by providing medical equipment, medical care, public education and hospital supplies, Olaniyan explained.

“Something like this is never easy,” Olaniyan said. “It takes dedicated people  — people willing to spend their time to help others and be away from their families.”

Olaniyan is preparing to take a team of 35 healthcare professionals to Nigeria this April for about two weeks. The team includes, nurses, surgeons, dentists, nose and throat doctors, pediatricians and an eye doctor.

“This has really grown from the first trip,” Olaniyan said. “The first team in 2008 consisted of 18 people and most were from the Moses Lake area. Now we have expanded to include people from the East Coast, Seattle, Washington D.C. and Nicaragua.”

The first two years, the mission team traveled to Patigi and Lafiagi in Nigeria to offer free treatment to residents. They brought equipment from home to administer to patients.

“We depend on donations from the community to be able to do this,” Olaniyan said.

With the help of donors, the team brought $11,000 worth of drugs and medication to Nigeria. Eye doctor Milt Herman brought $800 worth of medications and $1,600 worth of eyeglasses given by the Moses Lake Lion’s Club members.

“The glasses are all re-furbished, washed, treated, indexed and separated according to prescription,” Herman said. “This makes it easier for me to administer the right eyeglass to a patient.”

The Nigerian government re-opened a hospital in Patigi sitting unused for many years for the team. Since the first mission, the Patigi General Hospital has remained open to provide healthcare.

Updates were made that include two registered doctors, nurses and other healthcare personnel and running water. There are two physicians for 100,000 people at the facility.

“Here we have about 50 physicians for around 80,000 people and we don’t think that is enough,” said Frances Irwin, a Moses Lake nurse and team member.

Team members get up at 8 a.m. and work until about 6 p.m. every day. When they get to the hospital in the morning, there are usually around 600 people waiting in line for treatment.

“Some of them have been waiting in line all night long,” Olaniyan noted. “We are there to serve the people that have no jobs, no financial resources and no means to pay for treatment they desperately need.”

Last year, about 6,500 patients were attended to, 25,000 prescriptions were filled and 48 surgeries were performed. About 800 patients attended the eye clinic, 750 pairs of eyeglasses were dispensed and 250 patients received eye medications.

Team members also taught Basic Life Support techniques to ensure quality healthcare would remain in the city after their departure.

“We don’t work by the clock. We just serve as many as we can,” Herman said. “Unfortunately, we have way too many patients to serve for the time we have.”

This year the team is going to Lagos, the largest city in Nigeria, consisting of 25 million people. They are serving in two hospitals while there.

The team so far has $7,500 worth of medication to take with them.

“We always work with drug companies to receive help as well as generous residents,” Irwin said. “Yet our financial need is still very great.”

Herman, Irwin and Irwin’s husband, James Irwin, general surgeon in Moses Lake, have traveled to Nigeria since the team was created.

“I was part-retired, had the time and was curious about the adventure,” Herman said. “Once I went, I was so taken with the people I wanted to go see them again.”

The eye doctor treated many patients afflicted by cataracts from constant sun exposure.

“People come into the room unable to see and leave able to see things they’ve never seen before,” Herman said. “Some people didn’t know there were leaves on trees. They were actually pretty freaked out by all the details they were now able to see.”

The team said working in Nigeria challenges them in new ways.

“It’s kind of like we have to go back to basic training because we don’t have the technology,” Frances said. “It’s also challenging to try interacting with people that speak different languages. We have a translator there, but what they tell us may not be 100 percent accurate.”

Nigerian people may not even understand each other the majority of the time, as there are many different tribal languages spoken throughout the country.

“The challenges I’ve faced there are unlike anything I’ve been through,” James said. “We have small rooms to work in. The tables they gave us were like a step up from the tables used in the pioneer west.”

Despite the hardships, it is worth it, team members said.

“These people live in these hot, humid conditions all the time,” Frances said. “And they are so grateful for whatever we can do for them.”

The most rewarding memory for James is the time he performed an emergency cesarean section.

“If we hadn’t been there, the mother would have died and she had other children,” Frances said. “The people there are very different from us, but they have the same needs. They need to be loved and they need someone to take care of them.”

The team has seen diseases they’ve only read about.

“All of us enjoy treating these illnesses we never see back home,” Herman said. “It is extremely fascinating.”

James remembers treating Typhoid Fever.

“You know they are thankful because of their smile,” he said. “You see the joy and respect patients have that you have come and are giving them care. It’s extremely rewarding.”

Olaniyan said it was an easy choice to go back and give to his community.

“They way I look at it is, if we are able to save just one life, that is an accomplishment,” he said. “There is so much need in Nigeria and I am so grateful to everyone who has helped in the way they can. It is not easy to help. It is easy to sit back and do nothing, but it takes courage to get involved.”

To donate, visit www.mlmt.org or go to Dr. James Irwin’s office at Pioneer Medical Center, located at 1550 S. Pioneer Way in Moses Lake.

For more information, call Lateef Olaniyan at 509-750-8319 or Martha Wong at 509-750-4607.