A year after fleeing, doctor plans return to war-torn Sierra Leone
9/8/1998 News media contact: Linda Bloom · (646) 369-3759 · New York NOTE: A photograph is available with this story. by United Methodist News Service West African physician forced by civil war to leave his United Methodist-supported clinic will return to Sierra Leone in mid-September.
Dennis Marke, medical director of the Kissy United Methodist Church Health and Maternity center in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, said he is excited about his Sept. 16 departure for that country.
"I see the need for my service," he said.
Besides resuming his medical practice, Marke will institute new medical and nutrition programs for women and children still suffering from the war's effects. The Kissy Clinic is a joint medical ministry of the Sierra Leone United Methodist Annual Conference and the North and South Indiana annual conferences.
Marke and his wife, Manja, were forced to flee the clinic on May 26, 1997, the first day of a coup that has since left the country devastated. The couple took a boat to Gambia, where they remained as refugees until last September. They then came to the United States, where Mrs. Marke continued pursuing a bachelor's degree in nursing at the University of Indianapolis.
While in Indiana, Marke directed the work of the clinic by telephone and through fax messages. His communication with the clinic staff, as well as information from news stories, made him realize that malnutrition and its related diseases had become a severe problem.
The doctor has developed a project directed at improving the nutritional health of pregnant women and children. "I'm going to base the project mainly on locally available foodstuff," he explained.
For example, the project will teach how dried fish, ground nuts and rice can be cooked together for a high-protein diet.
Marke plans to provide a high-energy diet and instruction to 50 women and 50 children during a two-month period. They will be selected from existing patients and evaluated to determine their level of malnutrition. Clinic staff also will treat any accompanying diseases.
After a written evaluation, considered by the Sierra Leone Annual Conference's medical committee, a second group will receive instruction and treatment from Jan. 1 through March 31, 1999.
Marke said he expects to phase some patients out of the project as they improve, allowing new people to be added.
The doctor also plans to develop an outreach ministry to the camps for people displaced by the fighting. The program will provide health education, family planning, immunization, and basic treatment.
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