MFP Collaborates with Washington Law Schools

Georgetown Law students Nick Sheehan and Alex Shrank flank happy asylum awardee.

Marie became active in student politics when she was a student at the University at Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). She was concerned about the alarmingly high number of sexual assaults by soldiers on young women in the provinces, and in Kinshasa, the capital. The military heard about her activities, and one afternoon soldiers abducted her from her campus. She was handcuffed, blindfolded and brought to Camp Kokolo, on the outskirts of town. The next two weeks were a dark and brutally unforgettable part of Marie’s life. When she was released, she was warned by an army officer not to tell anyone about what had happened to her, or she would be killed. After Marie’s release, she got a job with an American relief non-Governmental Organization working in the DRC. However, she continued to be harassed by the military.  With the help of her employer, she was able to obtain a U.S. visa, and fled the DRC to the United States. 

Marie moved in with a relative in Baltimore, who brought her to the University of Maryland Law School Immigration Clinic to seek help in applying for asylum. Two bright and enthusiastic law students, and their supervisor, took on Marie’s case. They began to prepare the necessary documents to present a credible case before an immigration hearing showing that Marie risked torture, or worse, if she returned to the DRC. A crucial part of the application for asylum is a medical affidavit presenting a medical and psychological evaluation of her physical and psychological condition.  She was sent to the MFP Health Center for an extended interview and examination, which revealed that she had extensive physical and psychological evidence that she had been tortured. Three months later, following a superb presentation by the students, Marie was awarded asylum.

The MFP Health Center has worked closely with Immigration and Human Rights Clinics at the Law Schools at the University of Maryland, University of Baltimore, American University, and Georgetown University. Most recently, our physicians and nurses worked closely with two Georgetown Law Students, Alex Shrank and Nick Sheehan, who were able to obtain asylum for a young man who survived torture in a Central African country (see photo). We were pleased with Alex and Nick’s diligence and hard work in securing the hope of a new life for their client. The Law Schools in the Washington, DC area, through their Immigration and Human Rights Clinics, provide a valuable pro bono service for torture victims who are in considerable distress, and often without any resources. It is a valuable experience for the students, as well, who are enriched by their interaction with the asylum seekers. They are often courageous and highly ethical individuals who have risked a great deal to speak out for justice in their own country.

 

 

Spotlight on Volunteers in the Field

                                    Sister Clarice Carroll (left) chats with K.J.Crane

What sort of person volunteers to work in war zones, in impoverished underdeveloped countries, or in a clinic for torture survivors? A dedicated, caring, bold, and often idiosyncratic person. We would like to highlight two long-term MFP nurses in this issue, and they are most extraordinary women. 

Sister Clarice Carroll, RN, MSN has practiced her skills as a midwife and gynecological nurse from Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota to the Leprosarium in Barranquitas, Puerto Rico, from directing a School of Nursing and Midwifery in Tanzania to managing the OB-GYN clinics at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. She has not only provided medical care to impoverished women but championed their struggle for fuller, richer lives. The success of the MFP cervical cancer screening program in Northern Haiti is, in large part, due to her efforts: delivering high quality gynecological care, educating Haitian nurses to become competent in colposcopy and cryosurgery to detect and treat early cervical cancer, and pushing an under resourced medical system to deliver modern medical care.

Sr. Clarice is well known and respected in Gros Morne. Mothers and children wait to greet her in the morning as she walks through town to work, and she responds with a smile, bon jou, and a hug.

                                         Pat Clausen at the MFP Health Center    

After Pat Clausen, RN, MSN received a degree in Social Work from the University of Kentucky, she spent two years in the Peace Corps in Ecuador. Her experience as a community health worker there prompted her to return to school for a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Nursing Sciences. Armed with a fluency in Spanish and skills as a nurse practitioner, she spent three years as a rural health clinic nurse in La Liberta province in El Salvador, and returns frequently. In the United States, Pat has cared for low-income, uninsured and immigrant families in Northern Virginia and Maryland. She was one of the first volunteers in the MFP Clinic for Torture Victims and has become highly skilled in forensic examination. Having an extraordinary sensitivity to abused women, Pat now sees all of  our female patients who have been sexually assaulted or have been subjected to female genital mutilation, primarily in Africa.  Pat provides a safe space and the opportunity for our patients to speak freely to a woman who responds with compassion and understanding

 

MFP Increases Cancer Screening Sites in Haiti

  Cervical Cancer Screening Sites in Northwest Haiti

Cancer of the cervix is both preventable and curable. However, it remains the leading cause of cancer-related deaths in women in the developing world. Data from the Pan-American Health Organization indicates that Haiti has the highest cervical pre-cancer and invasive cancer rates in the Western Hemisphere, and one of the highest in the world. Facilities for the treatment of advanced cervical cancer, the stage most cancers are detected in Haiti, are limited and essentially non-existent for rural Haitians. Haitian women suffering from cervical cancer are relegated to an inevitably cruel and painful death. Further, Haitian women are the “poto mitan” (central pillar) of the society, and it is particularly devastating for the family and community when they fall sick, or die. They care for the children, the elderly, and the sick. They are often the “bread winners”, and their work of selling in the market place goes on in spite of earthquakes, hurricanes, political unrest or a failing economy.

Since the opening of the MFP women’s health clinic at Alma Mater Hospital in May 2010, we have evolved a cancer screening program which is a model for hospital based screening programs in Haiti. What began as a cervical screening program has evolved into a women’s health initiative that screens for other sexually-transmitted infections (including HIV, syphilis), other gynecological disorders, breast cancer, and hypertension, and has incorporated an education program to instruct patients on behavior for healthy living.

We have screened 2,200 women in the single-visit screen and treat program at the Alma Mater Hospital in Gros Morne ("A" on map). Approximately two years ago, we began seeing patients at the dispensary at Pendu ("B" on the map), approximately one hour north of Gros Morne by van. The dispensary at Pendu is the model for the development of our mobile cervical cancer detection program. We transport supplies and equipment to Pendu once or twice per month. The program is promoted among the women in Pendu by Madame Marcelle, the community health worker (nurse), and has been enthusiastically supported by local women. 

In October 2012, we expanded the program to the dispensary at Decostiere ("C" on map), which is located midway between Gros Morne and Gonaives. The program is championed among the women in Decostiere by Miss Marie Joseph, the nurse who runs the dispensary. Both Pendu and Decostiere dispensaries have gas-run electricity generators which enables us to do colposcopy. We bring a nitrogen oxide tank with us for cryosurgical procedures, as well as the necessary instruments and equipment to conduct the clinic. All women receive a full examination as described for the women’s health initiative at Alma Mater Hospital. 

Working closely with Haitian health workers, we plan to open other cancer screening sites in the northern Haiti (see arrow on map), so that rural Haitian women may have the opportunity to live full and meaningful lives.

Dr. Michael Viola and Madame Marcelle, the dispensary nurse in Pendu.