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Local Rotarian creates mission of hope Medical deficiencies inspire project for Russian people By MEG LANDERS Five years ago, the people of the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia had very few medical resources. Then Doug Smith, along with three fellow Rotarians, came for a visit. Their original intention was to start a Rotary Club in Russia, says the 52-year-old Medford optometrist. Then they discovered the working conditions of the Russian doctors. "We saw a 4-year-old child die because they didn�t have the 90 cents for antibiotics," says Smith. And Smith�s mission began. In four and a half years, Smith has made five trips to Kamchatka, and what began as taking tens of thousands of dollars of medication in suitcases has evolved into an $11.5 million project. Donations have ranged from computers and copiers to medical lasers for glaucoma and diabetes, mammographic equipment, pediatric endoscopes and incubators. "We�ve delivered virtually a complete hospital from upstate New York," Smith says. He�s even helped deliver a harpsichord to a talented musician who was without an instrument. With federal help through Humanitarian Aid and support from local and international Rotary organizations, Project Hope and Gateway America, Smith and others have been able to touch the lives of half a million people in Russia. Smith leaves April 20, along with his daughter, Erin, and Medford Rotarian Ed Lassman, for his sixth humanitarian mission to Kamchatka. "We�re going to immunize 130,000 people against Hepatitis B," says Smith. "We�re going to immunize 30,000 children and adults against pneumonia." Peter Rogers, the public information committee chairman of the Medford Rotary Club, says he�s impressed with Smith�s efforts in this large-scale humanitarian project. "It�s a big deal to be emanating from Medford," says Rogers. "He�s really got his heart and soul in this organization and he�s been the lightning rod for the involvement of pharmaceutical companies, hospitals and medical equipment manufacturers." Smith says he feels compelled to help in Kamchatka for many reasons. One of them is his past. "Thirty years ago, I was a missile launch officer with Strategic Air Command, and this turns out to be ground zero," he says. Now those who were once viewed as enemies are like family, says Smith. "When you see these needs and you know you�ve got a contact," he says, "it just makes it that much of a challenge to make a connection." He says he gets a lot of satisfaction cultivating relationships with so many people in Russia. "I found a place where my heart is." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.