Document text
62 °F Forecast | Road Cams Tuesday, March 8, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend March 8, 2005 Working in Africa, local doctor gives the gifts of sight, service By BILL KETTLER Mail Tribune Dr. Russ Leavitt will mark his birthday this year halfway around the world. The Grants Pass ophthalmologist will turn 63 on a ship off the coast of Africa, where he will be working to restore sight to people who have been blinded by cataracts and glaucoma. Leavitt will spend about three weeks at Monrovia, Liberia, aboard Anastasis, the world’s largest non-governmental hospital ship. He’ll work with volunteers from around the world through Mercy Ships, a Texas-based nonprofit organization that sends hospital ships to Africa and the Caribbean. "Everybody is service-oriented," he says. "It’s a pleasure to work with people from a number of different countries who are working together to make people’s lives a little better." Liberia, a Tennessee-sized country on Africa’s west coast, has a long connection with the United States. Freed slaves who were returned to Africa established the country in 1847. Civil strife during the 1990s left much of the nation in ruins. Advertisement Leavitt has made several trips to Latin America with Mercy Ships and other service groups. He expects his first visit to Africa (March 20 to April 6) will be much like the routine he came to know on other medical missions. The medical work goes relatively slowly because the surgical team has no experience working together, Leavitt says, and patients often have problems that require a complicated response. He might do as many as seven surgeries during a shipboard day, but those same seven procedures might take no more than three hours at home, working with familiar equipment and a familiar team. "It makes for some fairly intense days," he says, noting that medical personnel often work 12- to 14-hour days. "It’s a lot of work, but it’s good work." Physicians perform their surgeries aboard ship because it’s easier to maintain sterile conditions there than on land. Working aboard a ship takes some getting used to because a ship, even when anchored, moves. A physician in Grants Pass since 1974, Leavitt says service work gives him a break from "the things that drive doctors crazy" — insurance companies, government regulations and endless paperwork. "It returns one to the reasons that one went into medicine in the first place. It’s just the doctor and the patient and everything else goes away." He says the work also gives him an opportunity to feel "significant" in a way that transcends ordinary material success. "In North America we’re fortunate that we can achieve a measure of success," he says. "At some point a lot of people have the opportunity to move from success to significance. What can be more significant than returning sight to someone who has only known the difference between night and day for five or 10 years?" Working abroad, he says, also gives physicians a fresh appreciation for the high-quality medical care that’s available in North America and the rest of the developed world. "Working in a developing country is a life-changing experience in a very positive way," he says. "It makes people understand what a special situation we have here." To learn more about Mercy Ships see the Web site at:www.mercyships.org Reach reporter Bill Kettler at 776-4492, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress Advertisement s